Tsunami
by Jesse J Maximoff
Summary: A new mutant comes to Bayville seeking control of her haywire power. Much to the disapproval of the X-Men, she creates a taboo relationship with the resident speed demon and faces some intense rivals along the way. Pietro x OC. R&R.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: **I don't own x-men evolution so don't sue me!**

()= Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thinking

_Prologue_

Oh no, not again. That throbbing pain that's been enveloping my head for the past month is back to plague me. As if on cue, the loose objects in my car started floating. Hopefully Professor X will be able to help me now.

_Four years ago_

It was early Wednesday morning and I was in my worst class at school: language arts. Our satanic teacher Ms. Johnson had just finished grading our essays. It was my best essay yet but I already knew the best wad never good enough for Ms. Johnson. I took a deep breath while thinking "Whew, calm down Mina. You're the smartest girl in the entire 6th grade advanced classes and you know you did the best as usual." Satisfied with my reassuring thoughts I anxiously awaited the return of my graded paper. 

When Ms. Johnson came to my desk to hand back my paper, she smirked and said "Better luck next time Ms. Wilson." I looked down at my paper in pure shock. 2 out of 6! Oh hell no! I know this can't be right. As Ms. Johnson finished handing out the papers and returned to her desk, I abruptly got up and rushed to question this abomination she called a grade. 

"Uh excuse me Ms. Johnson, why did I get a 2 on this paper? My essay is virtually flawless" I questioned with a raised eyebrow. 

"Not only did it exceed the maximum amount of paragraphs but your paper was written in black ink and I specifically asked for blue. I expect perfection from my advanced students and I don't accept anything else" she replied smugly. 

I was heated; no better yet I was pissed off! I worked my ass to make that paper perfect or what I thought was perfect. I wanted to smack that smug little grin off of her face so badly.

Through clenched teeth I replied "So you're telling I got an unfair grade because of some damn ink! Maybe if you weren't such a perfection-greedy bitch who hated children I would have gotten a fair grade." At this point anger didn't even begin to describe what I was feeling. It was more along the lines of infuriation. I guess I must've really mad because my vision had suddenly gotten blurry and my head started pounding like crazy. 

Ms. Johnson, on the other hand, looked surprisingly calm. "Ms. Wilson, I will not tolerate that kind of language in my class especially from an honor student. Report to the principal's office immediately or I'll have security take you."

Although she was sitting right in front of me her voice was strangely far away and distant. The pounding in my head was so loud I could feel and hear it thumping in my ear. I clutched my head as if to make the pain stop but obviously it didn't work. I then started hearing loud and familiar voices surrounding me. They sounded like my classmates but as I turned to look at them nobody's mouth was moving. Although i couldn't physically hear them I heard them. 

A look of concern came over her face when she asked "Ms. Wilson, are you alright?" Ms. Johnson's voice sounded even further than before as if it wasn't really there. The throbbing was getting worse and worse and the room began spinning. What's happening to me? Before I could try to figure that out, the voices were getting louder and louder until they became too much to bear. I clutched my head tighter and screamed out in searing pain before I met total silence and darkness. 

_Meanwhile in __Bayville, NY_  
ALERT!  
Discovery: Mutant signature  
Extrapolation complete  
Identity confirmed  
Name: Semina Wilson  
Residence: Richmond, VA  
Age: 12  
"Logan prep the blackbird. Cerebro has just detected a new mutant.  
Tell Storm to watch over Scott and Jean until we return." 

_Back in Richmond_  
I opened my eyes and took in my surroundings as my eyes adjusted to the blinding white light. White sheets, white room, white walls, white hospital tag. Wait a second, why do I have a hospital tag on my wrist? How did I end up in the hospital? What the hell happened?

Last thing i remember I was at school telling off Ms. Johnson when I heard voices and my head started hurting and ..."Aw damn" I whispered quietly. The pain in my head must've caused me to black out. Trying to make as little noise as possible, I stirred slightly in my bed and tried to lift my head only to fail miserably. Not only did my head feel like it weighed a ton but moving around caused the pain to return  
once again. "Ouch" I said as I slightly winced in pain.

I guess I was being a lot louder than I thought because my mom suddenly threw her arms around me and said "Semina, baby you're awake! Are you okay?" When did she get here?

"Yeah I'm fine mom just a little tired and my head really hurts. What happened to me?"

"Honestly baby, the doctors are as clueless as we are. They don't know what happened to you." she

replied with a sympathetic voice.

"When your teacher told us you fainted I rushed to come get you because your dad is working a double shift at work"(she also told us some other things) 

"Other things like what" I replied in a nervous voice. 

"What do you mean other things. I didn't say anything else" my mom said with a confused expression. 

"Yes you did. You said 'she also told us some other things'. I'm asking you what else did she told you." Now it was my turn to be confused. I knew I heard her as loud and clear as an HDTV. 

(Oh no) My mom had a frightened expression on her face. 

"'Oh no' what? What's going on, mom?" 

(I believe I can answer that) 

"Who said that?" I shouted. Where are these voices coming from? 

(I did. My name's is Charles Xavier and I'm here to help you.) 

"Help me with what? There's nothing wrong with me! I just fainted after having a headache. It's not a big deal! Mom, who's Charles Xavier and why does he want to help me?" 

My mother sighed and said "Charles just come in and stop scaring her." 

A bald man in a wheelchair entered the room with a gruff, mean-looking short guy following him. Common sense immediately told me this was Charles Xavier but I had no idea who the other guy was. 

"So tell me Mr. Xavier what's wrong with me?" my voiced dripped to skepticism. I don't even think this guy is a doctor. How could he possibly know what's wrong with me? 

(I assure you Semina, there's nothing wrong with you. Your mutant powers are starting to manifest and you were simply overwhelmed by their intensity that your body shut itself down.) 

"Mutant powers?" I replied in a small voice. "Mom, I'm a mutant too? Just like Auntie Viv." A whirlwind of emotions hit me because this isn't the first time my family's been down this road. When my older brother Andre got his powers early, let's just the outcome wasn't well nor was it pleasant. 

"Apparently so baby." My mother looked so sad. I could already assume she was thinking about what happened with Andre. I guess she was worried what would happen to me too. "Charles could actually talk so I can be included in this conversation as well." 

"Alright then. You see Estelle, your daughter Semina seems to have developed a very strong sense of telepathy just like your sister. You should already know why I'm here." 

"I know" my mom replied in a sullen tone. 

With a confused face and voice I spoke out and said "Telepathy? What's that and why are you here?" 

(Telepathy is when you're able to read other peoples mind as well as project your voice into their heads. Go ahead and try to tell or ask me something. Just think of what you want to say and direct it toward me.) 

I took a deep breath, thought really hard and replied (That still doesn't explain why your here.) 

Just then my Auntie Vivian came in and said "He wants to train you, honey; to help manage your powers."

"Auntie Viv!" I exclaimed. She swept me up into a bone-crushing hug and I gladly accepted. After all I am her favorite niece and she's my favorite aunt.

"How are you feeling sugar?" 

"Not too good. My head still really hurts."

"It comes with the development of your powers. It'll go away once you learned to control them. And speaking of controlling them, your mom and I don't want you training so far away from home in New York where Charles's institute is. After the incident with Andre two years ago your mother and I agreed that if either you or your brother or sister ever got mutant powers, that I would be the one to train you. I'm just as capable as Charles and I'm a thousand times closer. I'd love to start training you by next week if that's okay with you, Charles?" 

" I see no harm in it, as much as I'd love to have you at my school I think it's best if Vivian trained you. But before I leave let me help you get rid of that pain." He wheeled himself closer to my bed and placed his hands on both sides of my head. Before I could protest, I felt a jolt and the pain was gone.

"Wow that feels much better." I was simply amazed at how fast the pain dissipated." Thank you." 

"You're quite welcome Semina. If your head ever starts hurting just concentrate on making the pain stop and that should work. I'm afraid I must be leaving now but just remember this; the doors to my institute are always open if you need them to be." He turned to my aunt and said "She's all yours Viv. I know you'll do what's best."

"Thanks. I appreciate you encouragement Charles, take care."

I just sat there and watched as he and the short guy, who was too rude to introduce himself, left. I turned to my quiet mom and asked "So mom, I can really train with Auntie Viv?" 

" Of course you can. You two can start in two weeks."

"But Aunt Viv said next week." 

"Yes she did but next week you'll be on punishment for what you said to Ms. Johnson. Don't think I forgot that." 

(Aw damn it!) 

(Hey! Watch your mouth young lady and stop screaming so loud.) 

(Oops, sorry aunt Viv.) 

_Present day_

For the next two years Aunt Viv trained me to control my telepathy as well as the new powers that developed after it. After Aunt Viv disappeared I trained by myself two years after that perfecting my powers the way she told me to. 

Remembering what Professor X told me I concentrated on the pain until it stopped. The objects stopped floating and fell back in their places in my car. My newfound power of telekinesis is growing too rapidly for me to handle and without Aunt Viv here to help me I can't control it. So I decided to make my way to Bayville to train with Professor X. 

He already knew I was coming because I had told him a week ago. There were already six other students who also had special powers, but I told him to not tell them what my powers were so I could surprise them myself. 

My long drive from Virginia to New York came to a halt as I pulled into Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters. 

My journey to control begins now.


	2. Arrival at the X Mansion

A/N: I would appreciate if people took the time to thoroughly read the entire story before posting a negative review. And for anyone wondering what those numbers and letters are at the bottom of the prologue, I don't know and I have no idea how they got there. Here's the new chapter some people have been waiting for! :-) R & R please.

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution so don't sue me!

() = Telepathic conversations

"" =Speaking

''=Thoughts

Arrival at the X-mansion

As I pulled my jet black Chevy Camaro up to the mansion I gasped in amazement. This place was HUGE! I've seen my share of mansions back in Virginia but this one was breathtaking. I then saw a group of teens and a tall woman with white hair waiting in the front around a pretty fountain. I guess they were the other students and she must be one of the teachers here. I guess it's time to make my entrance. 

"Like wow whose car is that? It's even nicer than Scott's." marveled Kitty. 

"Hey!" exclaimed Scott. "It's all right but not better than mine." 

"Oh grow up, Scott it's just a car." said Jean. 

"Okay fine." 'But mine is still better' thought Scott with a grin. 

(Shut up Scott) projected Jean. 

"Look someone's getting out." observed Evan.

"Humph. That must be tha new student," Rogue said with snide expression. 

I parked my car in front if the steps to the mansion and took a deep breath and tried to calm my nerves. I'm always nervous around people I don't know. I didn't know what anyone's powers were, so I put up some extra strong mental walls the way Aunt Viv taught me, to keep anyone from reading my mind just in case there was another telepath. I looked down at my outfit and thanked myself that I know how to dress like a model on a regular day. Nothing too plain but nothing too extravagant. A black tank top covered by a black and gray short-sleeved vest, dark wash skinny jeans and a moderately high pair of black stilettos. 

I opened the door of my car smoothed my long dark brown hair, stepped out of the car and proceeded to make my way to the trunk to gather my belongings. I grabbed my three huge black and white suitcases, carry-on bag and duffel bag and made my way toward the other students. Struggling to carry all of my bags at one time and walk in heels may not have been the best idea. But luckily for me two of the boys must've seen me struggling and immediately came to help me. 

"Thank you so much" I said in grateful tone as a blonde haired boy took two of my suitcases and a blue haired boy took the other suitcase and duffel bag. 

"Hey don't sweat it. It was our pleasure" said blonde boy. 

"Ja. Anything for such a beautiful fräulein," replied the boy with blue hair. 

"Aw you guys are sweet." I replied sincerely with a slight blush on my face. 'I think I might like it here.'

By now everyone else had gathered around us and began introducing themselves.

"By the way my name's Evan and this Kurt," said blonde boy, I mean Evan. 

"Guten tag," said Kurt in a cheerful voice.

"Like hi! My names Kitty," said the girl in the pink sweater. "It's like so nice to meet you."

"Mah names Rogue," said the girl dawning the heavy Goth makeup.

"Hi. My names Scott and this is Jean," said the boy with the red sunglasses who pointed at a red haired girl. "Welcome to the X mansion."

"Yeah. We were all excited to hear we were getting a new student," said Jean.

"Hello child, I'm Ororo. I'm one of the instructors here," said the tall white-haired woman. "So what's your name?"

I smacked my forehead and said "Oh yeah I forgot to introduce myself. My name's Semina but you guys can call me Mina."

"So Mina, where are you from," asked Scott.

"I'm from Richmond, Virginia," I replied.

"How old are you," asked Kurt.

"I'm sixteen. Which you can tell by my sexy ass Camaro," I answered with a grin while gesturing toward my car.

"Cool. So what's your power," inquired Evan.

"If it's okay with y'all, I'd like to show you instead of tell you. But not right now though because I'm really tired and my feet are starting to hurt," I said pointing down at my feet. They didn't really hurt, but I needed a way to get myself out of this situation because I had to talk to Professor X first. I needed to tell him what my new powers were because after he visited me four years ago I acquired new ones and I don't know if he knew what they were yet.

"Oh, like we're sorry. We forgot you had on heels," apologized Kitty. "Which are like super cute by the way."

"Thanks."

"Let's all go inside so we can show you to your new room," suggested Jean.

"Okay. Let's do it," I replied in a relieved voice.

I was just glad that it seems like everyone has forgotten that I didn't tell or show them my powers yet. As we walked toward the double doors and entered the foyer, my jaw literally hit the floor. I know I said the outside of the mansion was amazing but the inside was just ridiculously beautiful. It was almost all done in marble, there were elegant statue and paintings, and big stair case that separated into two directions at the top. 'Dang, Professor X must have crazy paper to be able to afford all this.' I walked around in awe until I remember I had to talk to the professor.

"Scott, can I ask you something."

"Sure. What is it Mina?"

"Where's the professor? I really need to talk to him."

"I'm right here, Semina. It's nice to see again," said the professor wheeling up to shake my hand.

"It's good to see you again too. You haven't changed a bit professor," I replied. Seeing the professor seemed to have calmed my nerves.

"Wait, how do you two know each other," questioned Jean with a slightly confused face.

"I can answer that, said Professor X. "You see Jean four years ago when Semina's powers manifested, Logan and I flew to Virginia to ask her parents if they wanted her to receive training here. Although they declined, her aunt managed to train her."

"So that's the shorts guy's name; Logan. Where is he anyway? I didn't see him out front when I got here."

"He stepped out this morning. He said he'd be back tonight," answered Professor X.

"Wait you said she was already trained. Then why is she here?" inquired Rogue.

"I got a new power a month ago and without my aunt there to train me I couldn't control it," I answered in a sad voice.

"Like what happened to her," asked Kitty.

"I don't want to talk about it okay." I replied defensively. I know it was just a question and that I shouldn't have snapped at Kitty like that, but I don't know her or anyone else here for that matter and it's not any of their business. What happened to my aunt is a little more than personal and I need them to stop trying to dig into my past.

A flash of hurt came across Kitty's face and she looked like she wanted to say something else but the professor, being the only one who knew what happened, stepped in and said "Semina you must be tired. Kurt could you please bring her bags to her room and Rogue can you show her where it is as well as help her unpack her bags."

"Sure thing professor," Kurt said in a happy voice while Rogue just said "Fahne."

(Thanks for stepping in professor)

(You're quite welcome)

As Rogue and I started going up the stairs, I heard a bamf and suddenly smelled smoke. I started coughing like crazy and looked around.

"Eww what's that smell?" I managed to get out while still coughing like crazy "And where did Kurt go? Wasn't he here just a second ago?"

"Kurt's a teleporter and every time he teleports he leaves behind this a cloud of smoke. You'll get used to it suge," said Rouge.

"I sure hope so."

As we continued up the stairs I felt a familiar feeling like there was someone trying to read my mind so I turned around and saw Jean with her eyes closed and a look of concentration on her face. Well what do you know? Turns out little miss Jean was a telepath too, and a stupid one at that. Did she really think I wouldn't notice her trying to look into my head? So I sent out the weakest psionic blast I could muster and sent it at her to break her concentration. Her eyes snapped open and she looked around probably wondering what just happened. 'Good' I thought with a triumphant smirk. 'That should teach her to stay out of my mind.'

Rogue and I kept walking until we stopped at a wooden brown door. "Well here's your room," Rogue said as she opened the door and gestured inside. It was a plain room with bare, white walls, a full size bed, a desk set up in the corner, a moderately large closet, two dressers that stood side by side, my own bathroom, a full length window that hung behind the door and a window over-looking the beautiful, majestic sea.

"A little bland but the view is more than perfect for me," I said as I examined the room and saw Kurt put my bags next to the closet.

"You can decorate it any way ya want once ya get unpacked," added Rogue. "We should probably start now because we have to get to bed early tonight."

"Why?" I said with a confused face. It was Friday night, so why do we need to go to bed early?

"The professa will tell you once you talk to him. Now let's get started."

_Two suitcases full of clothes, a suitcase of shoes and hundreds of posters later_

"There," I said as I finished putting my last pair of shoes in the closet. "It took us an hour and a half but we got the job done."

"I can't believe ya have so many clothes," marveled Rogue. "You put Kitty's closet ta shame."

"What can I say; I have to have some variety in my wardrobe."

"And I really can't believe you listen to Papa Roach, Evanescence, and Mindless Self-Indulgence," Rogue said with look of pure disbelief on her face.

"Hey! I may be black, but I love Rock just as much as I love Hip-hop and Rap."

"Wow. I had you pegged all wrong. I thought you were a girly girl like Kitty or a goody goody like Jean but you're actually a real cool chick."

"Thanks I try. But on the real can I ask you a question?"

"Sure thang."

"Is there anyone in the mansion that I need to watch out for? Like someone's who's not really trustworthy?" I absolutely hate fake people so I need to know if there's anyone who I shouldn't get to close to and I had a good feeling that Jean would be the perfect example.

"Definitely Jean," said Rogue. I knew it.

"I swear that girl's faker than a three dollar bill. You should be on ya guard because she likes going inta people's minds without permission, so if I was you I'd put up some strong mental barriers."

I smirked and confidently said "She already tried to get in my head but I won't have to worry about that. I can already tell that I'm the stronger telepath. My mental barriers are too strong for her to break."

"Wait. You're a telepath too? "

"Yeah. I've training my telepathy for four years now. The only people besides my family that know are you and the professor, so please don't tell anyone yet. I plan on telling them when the times right but only after I talk to Professor X."

"Sure thang suge. Your secrets safe with me. "Rogue looked down at her watch and said "I have a lot of stuff I have to do before I go to bed. I'll see you later."

"Bye and thanks Rogue. Hey before I forget to ask you can you tell me where the professor is?"

"He's usually in his study downstairs. It's the third door on the the right."

"How many times can I thank you today?" I said with an appreciative smile on my face.

For the first time all day Rogue smiled and said "As much as you'd like" before exiting the room.

Well it was time for me to go see the professor and talk about my powers. But first I had to get changed. There was no way I was going to parade around in heels all day. I slowly got up and looked in my drawers for something casual to wear. I slipped on a pair of baggy khaki cargo shorts, a black V-neck shirt and grabbed a pair of black sandals out of my closet. I looked at my hair in the mirror and tied my long hair into a loose ponytail and left my room to make my way downstairs to the professor's study. I passed Jean on the stairs and gave a wave of courtesy and a nonchalant "Hey Jean." She looked at me and replied "Hey Mina. Where are you headed?"

"The professors study. There are some things I need to talk to him about."

"Some things like what?" Jean questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Some things." I repeated while resisting the urge to roll my eyes at her. 'Ugh, why is this nosy heifer asking me these damn questions.' Good thing these barriers are stopping her from reading my mind cause if she heard what I was saying she might say something slick and I just might have to put my advanced hand to hand combat skills to use.

Despite what happened earlier, she was still trying to get something out of me so I shoved my hands in my pockets, calmly walked away and told her "Stop trying to probe my mind Jean. It didn't work before and it's not going to to work now."

I just wish I could see the look of shock and embarrassment on her face, but had more important matters to deal with. I approached the door to Professor X's study and before I could even knock on the door I heard him say (Come on in). He looked up from his papers and politely asked "Is there something wrong Semina." He asked while gesturing toward a comfy looking chair.

As I took my seat I replied and said "Yes there is. I want to talk to you about the new powers I got over the years, but first we need to talk about Jean. I would appreciate it if you told her to stop trying to read my mind. I'll talk about my past when I'm good and ready."

"Okay, I'll be sure to tell her. Now what new powers did you develop?"

(I feel that I should tell you telepathically because I don't want people eavesdropping.)

(Fair enough.)

(Okay. Well while training my telepathy, I realized I could emit psionic blasts that varied in power, change and erase people's memories and control their minds to alter their perceptions and control their actions. A little while after that I started sensing people's emotions really strongly and Aunt Viv told me it was called empathy. So now I can feel and control other people's emotions.)

"(Interesting. Is there anything else?)

(Oh yeah!) I practically screamed at him and it must've been really loud because he had a slightly pained look on his face.

(Semina, not so loud.)

(Sorry. it's just that I'm so happy and excited about this one. I'm hydrokinetic; I can manipulate, control and absorb water! Isn't that awesome!)

(Well what do you mean by absorb?)

(I'm glad you asked. Let me show you.)

I scanned the room until I found what I was looking for. Located behind the professor's desk was a moderately tall bright green fichus. 'Perfect' I thought. I rose from my seat and put my hands out in front of me. I focused on the water in the plant, thrust my hands upward and released the water that was within the branches and leaves turning it from a lively green to a dead and sickly brown. As I smiled in satisfaction, the professor had a look of pure amazement on his face. I guess he was as happy as I am about my power.

(Incredible! That's a very useful and extraordinary power, Semina. I'm glad to see you have such good control over it. What can you do with the water you gather?)

(I can turn it into ice then back to water,) I told him while turning the water I had floating in the air into a bunch of ice shards then returning it back to its original watery state. (I can turn the water into an ice shield, collect water from the air as well as plants, use water to cut through objects almost as hard as adamantium, make water whips, heal certain injuries and if there's a large enough source of water around me I can generate giant tidal waves that can basically wipeout an entire neighborhood.)

(Amazing! You could really put these abilities to great use especially once we get you in the danger room and out on the battle field.)

I let the water I was controlling drop to the floor as soon as I heard the word "danger." (What do you mean "danger room?"?) 'I ain't getting in any room that has the word danger in it' I thought with an alarmed expression on my face.

(The danger room is where we do our training Semina. I assure you it's perfectly safe.)

(If you insist. I need to talk to you about my lack of control over my telekinesis.) I thought at him while picking the water off of the floor.

(Well what's the problem?)

I concentrated on the window in his office, flung one of my hands toward it and opened it. With the window open I sent the water I had in my hands outside and closed the window.

(Well I can only move things if I'm focused to the point where my head starts hurting; like it is now. Ow, I think we start talking out loud now.)

"You don't have to worry about that. While you're here we'll be able to help you get that under control through training and speaking of training first thing in the morning you and the rest of the students are being sent to Iron Back survival camp to understand how to survive in the wilderness. You should get to bed early and I expect you to be ready to go by 7 A.M., understood?"

'Survival camp! In the wilderness, with bears and wild animals and shit? Oh no, that ain't for me. I'm from freaking Richmond!'

Although I was slightly panicking inside I managed to keep it from showing on my face. I replied by saying "Fine by me. I'm always up for a challenge."

'Although waking up that early on a Saturday doesn't sound so appealing' I added as an afterthought.

"Glad to hear it Semina. By the way I've already enrolled you at the local high school, Bayville high, in order for you to continue your education. After survival camp you'll report there Monday morning. Now I suggest you get some sleep."

"Okay professor," I said as I began to leave the room. I stopped in front of the door and told him "Thanks," before exiting the room.

As I made my way back upstairs I heard the front door open and in stepped a guy with leather jacket and a motorcycle helmet on his head. Ah, so this must be Logan. I leaned over the rail and shouted "Hey Logan! Do you remember me?"

He looked up, lifted the helmet from his head and replied in a gruff voice "Yeah. You're that kid from the hospital four years ago, ain't ya?"

"Yeah that's me."

"So what're you doing here? I thought your aunt trained ya."

"She did, but I got a new power and without her I couldn't control it and my parents sent me here."

"Why aren't you in bed yet? Don't you have survival camp in the morning?"

"I was just going. Good night, Logan."

His only response was a grunt. 'What was his problem?' I thought as he just walked away apparently ending our conversation. I disregarded his rudeness and continued the journey to my room. There was a slight pain in my head from trying to use my telekinesis, so I put my hands on the sides of my head focused on the pain and waited for it to disappear. 'Ah, that's so much better' I thought as the intensity of the pain decreased until it completely vanished. As soon as I got into my room, I changed into my short black spaghetti strapped nightgown, brushed my teeth, wrapped my hair around my head and held it in place with a silk head wrap and headed toward my bed. As I crawled into bed I thought with a slight grin 'Tomorrow, the real work starts and I'm ready for anything.'

A/N: So what did you think? Go ahead and hit that review button at the bottom, 'kay. In the next chapter we finally get to see our most awaited character(s). Yes you guessed it! Pietro and the brotherhood finally make their debut!

P.S: I don't know how to do Rogue and Kurt's accent so use your imagination!


	3. On the Way to Camp

A/N: Let me start by saying thank you to the people who like my story; I appreciate your praise and encouragement. Next I would like to say this is my first story so CUT ME SOME SLACK! I understand that people have different opinions about how good or bad my character is, but if you don't have anything positive to say then don't post a review! I admit that the characters are going to be OOC sometimes, but this is **MY** story so deal with it. If you didn't notice by now I'm a Jott basher so if you love either of them **don't read my story** because you will get offended or angry.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything about X-Men Evolution so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

Survival of the fittest

!

As soon as I heard my alarm clock ring the first thing out of my mouth was "Damn it!" I reached over to smash the snooze button my alarm clock and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. I looked at the clock and thought '5:30 A.M on a Saturday morning is just plain wrong.' As much as I wanted to complain, I knew I had to suck it up. There was no way in hell I was going to punk out in front of everyone else, especially not on my official first day here. I swung my feet off of the bed and made my way toward the bathroom to brush my teeth and shower. After brushing my teeth I turned on the shower, removed my sleepwear and carefully placed a shower cap on my head to keep the water out of my hair. I had no intention of getting my hair wet unless I was washing it because I had just gotten my hair permed before I got here and it had to last for the next 3 months. Without a perm my hair was going to start to look like a birds nest and I couldn't have that now could I? As I stepped in the shower I began contemplating what I should wear as well as what I should pack. Ten minutes later after stepping out of my refreshing shower, I grabbed a fresh white towel off the towel rack and dried my wet body while still deep in thought as to what I was going to wear. I had brought my undergarments with me into the bathroom so I wouldn't parade around _completely_ naked especially with the huge window I had in the room. As I stepped out of the bathroom, I guess I was too deep in thought because I failed to notice the bamf that had sounded in my room until it was too late.

Kurt had started to say "Hey Mina, vhat do you vant for..."

But before he could even get the entire sentence out I yelled "KURT! GET THE HELL OUT OF MY ROOM!" and scrambled to find something to cover myself with. Kurt must've been mortified because he quickly teleported out and his cheeks flashed a deep red that contrasted with bright blue face. Wait! Blue face? Since when was his face blue and why didn't I notice it before? Quickly brushing off that awkward encounter, I remembered that I still had to get dressed and pack my bag for camp. After putting on a black wife beater, stretchy khaki skinny jeans*, fingerless black gloves and a pair of black combat boots, I tied my hair in a loose bun with a single strand laying on the right side of my face and completed the tedious task of packing my duffel bag with camp essentials. Back in Virginia, I had gotten an expandable canteen that could hold up to a half a liter of water; just case I needed a quick source of water to use with my powers. After slinging it over my head and resting it on my shoulder so that it hung on my left hip I glanced at the clock only to see it read "6:37." 'Shit! I still haven't eaten yet!'

I quickly picked up my bag, put it on my right shoulder and went downstairs as fast as I could and made my way toward the kitchen or at least tried. No one had shown me where anything was so I was just a little lost. Scratch that; I was more than a little lost. I was so lost that I ended up in the garage! So I did the smartest thing I could think of; I asked for directions.

(Rogue! Can you hear me?)

(Yeah, what's tha problem?)

(I'm lost. I was trying to find the kitchen but I somehow ended up in the garage. Can you tell me where to go from here?)

(Sure thang. Just go out the door ya came in, go down tha hallway in the opposite direction ya previously went, walk down that hallway til you see a giant opening and to ya left you should find the kitchen.)

(Thanks Rogue.)

Following Rogues directions I made it to the kitchen but with only 13 minutes to eat. I entered the kitchen and was showered with a chorus of "Good mornings" and "Hey Minas" and a grunt which I assumed was Logan's way of saying "good morning." Despite how early it was everyone was really cheerful and awake so I replied in a slightly cheerful voice "Good morning, everyone," and grabbed a plate out of the cabinet. I piled it high with a tower of eggs, pancakes, and bacon, which I could assume was courtesy of Ororo. I sat down at the table and took my first bite. It was so delicious that I without a second thought I finished it off in less than five minutes. I forgot people were around until I felt eyes on me. I looked around the table to see everyone staring at me with looks of disbelief. "What? Is there something on my face?"

"Wow Mina you eat more than Kurt does!" exclaimed Evan with a horrified look on his face. I looked at Kurt, who was also shocked until he nodded and quickly looked down. I noticed that his face wasn't blue anymore, I wonder what happened.

I gave a slight chuckle and replied "Then Kurt must not eat a lot because I usually eat much more than this. This is like an appetizer for me." More shocked faces and even a few gasps. I'm not a skinny little salad eating chick like Kitty, okay. I can eat anything I want and as much as I want and not gain a single pound. I guess I'm just lucky like that.

"But you're like totally skinny! Where does it all go?" inquired Kitty.

"I don't really know," I replied truthfully. "But what I do know is that the professor said to be ready by 7:00 and it's nearly 7:00 now, so who's ready to go?" Beside forest beasts, I was actually excited to be going on this trip. It'll give everyone a chance to get to know me a little better and trust me. They probably think I'm this real mean and sour chick who has a major attitude, but like Rogue said, I'm really cool once you get to know me.

Evidently, everyone agreed because they got up, grabbed their bags and headed toward the door while Ororo cleared the table. I followed suit as I picked up my suitcase and went out the door as well. But first I had to do something. I quickened my pace until I was side by side with Kitty. "Uh, Kitty can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure,"

"Listen, I just want to apologize for snapping at you yesterday. I'm just really sensitive when someone mentions my aunt."

"Yeah I like totally understand. I'm not mad at you, if you if that's what you think," she said.

"Really, well that's good to hear. I hate it when people are mad at me," I said as we came down the steps of the front porch.

When we got outside with everyone else something important crossed my mind. "Hey guys!" I shouted toward them. As everyone turned around I said "I know this is going to sound stupid but how are we getting to camp?" I looked left and right and didn't see any means of transportation so I was utterly confused.

"We're having Ororo take us in the X-Van. She'll drop us off at school and we'll take the school bus from there," Scott explained.

"The X-Van?" I questioned as they walked toward the garage. Scott pressed a button and the door opened revealing a huge and shiny tricked out black van.

I got closer and did a quick once over of it. "Titanium plating, 32" tires, chrome muffler, and I if I popped the hood I would bet that it has a V8 engine and knowing Professor X, a jet rocket propulsion system, am I right?" More shocked faces. "Are you guys just going to stand there with your mouths hanging open or are we going to get moving?" As their faces returned to normal we crawled into the X-Van and proceeded to drive off. As everyone settled in I noticed that Ororo was driving as previously stated, Scott was in the front seat; Jean, Kitty and Evan were in the middle seats, which left me between Rogue and Kurt at the very back of the van. 'Yeah this ain't awkward at all.' I thought as I recalled what happened this morning and thought of how I should apologize to Kurt. My train of thought was interrupted when Evan asked me "Hey Mina, why don't you tell us about yourself since you didn't get the chance to yesterday?"

'Here's my chance to show them the real me,' I thought with a smile. "Well alright. What do you want to know?"

"Well, what do your parents do?" Ororo asked while still focusing on the road.

"My mom's a nurse and my dad's a mechanic, which is where I learned about cars from."

"What kind of music and clothes do you like," Kitty asked excitedly.

"I have a pretty diverse sense of style, like you'll see me in punk rock chic one day old school hip hop another and sweats the next. As for music, I love hip hop as much as I love rock."

"Do you have any specials talents," Scott asked.

"Besides mutant powers," I replied with a chuckle, "I'm basically a master in the kitchen, I've been a trained fighter since I was 5, a gymnast for ten years and later became a cheerleader so I can do a straight yurchenko with a full twist, 15 back handsprings in a row and a number of other overly complicated flips."

"Why'd you quit," Kitty asked with a confused face. Looks like she would kill to be a cheerleader.

"Too many ditzy airheads that couldn't understand that cheerleading isn't the only thing in the world. I had after school AP clubs I had to attend and I wasn't letting the people reviewing my college applications think that I was nothing more than a pom-pom waving high school cheerleader."

"After school AP clubs? You must be really smart then. What's your GPA?" Jean remarked with an interested look on her face.

"Yeah, I'm guess I'm pretty smart. I only have a 4.75 GPA but that's not anything special," I answered truthfully.

Jean's jaw basically hit the van's floor. "4.75? I only have a 4.5!"

I shrugged my shoulders and said "They're just grades to me. As long as I get into college I'll be fine." The jealously radiating off of Jean was so strong; it made wince in slight pain. As I shook off the feeling, the rest of the students continued to bombard me with questions about myself. By the time I finished telling them about me we had already made it to the school.

'Wow.' As I looked at the big school, I found that it was surprisingly similar to my old one. 'So this is Bayville High. By the end of school Monday I'll make sure these students never forget the name Semina Wilson. I'll make sure of that,' I thought with a grin. We exited the X-Van, grabbed our bags, and waved good bye to Ororo and waited in the front of the school with another group of people whom I assumed were students. I did a quick and undetectable scan of their minds to confirm my guess that they weren't mutants. Speaking of mutants I remembered that I had a certain teleporter I had to speak with. I looked around and saw Kurt talking to Evan. I noticed that he was either too afraid or flustered to even so much as glance at me during the ride here. I knew Kurt was still a little embarrassed about the mishap earlier but I had to let him know it was no big deal. As I walked up to them, Kurt immediately started to blush in that same crimson shade as before. I asked Evan to give me a minute to talk with Kurt. He just shrugged and said "Fine," and walked toward everyone else.

I pulled him furthest away from everyone else and started off by saying "Kurt, look I'm sorry for yelling at you like that this morning. I guess I'm not used to having people randomly teleport in my room yet. Can you forgive me?" As I apologized I put on my most guilt ridden eyes and sincerest smile. When I pull out this face it usually means that I'm really sorry or just really want something. I only use it as a last resort because it's my most dangerous weapon against the opposite sex and I've yet to find any male that can resist it. Kurt just looked at me and exhaled deeply in what seemed like relief. "Absolutely. I thought you vere mad at me!"

"I never had a reason to be. Maybe a little annoyed but not mad. I just didn't want us to tiptoe around each because of the awkwardness," I told him as I reached out to touch his exposed shoulder, but when I tried something weird happened. As he saw me reaching out to touch him he just moved back as if he was afraid to be touched. I looked at him with a confused expression and asked him "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" he replied in a high pitched and nervous squeak. I looked at him with a raised eyebrow and said "Mm hmm, like I'm supposed to believe that. You can tell me what's wrong; I'm a big girl I can take it." He sighed in defeat and carefully grabbed my hand and put it to his face. I was shocked as to what I felt. "Is that fur?" I asked with a hushed but amused tone.

"Yep," he said sadly. "Blue fur." Oh! That's why his face was blue this morning!

"That's why you were afraid for me to touch you?" He looked down in embarrassment and nodded. "Kurt, I don't care if you have fur or scales or even feathers for that matter. What matters is that I'll accept you no matter what, as long as you're my friend that is." Kurt just looked at me and smiled that goofy grin of his before replying "Of course I'm your friend, Mina."

"Good," I replied. "But I do have one question though."

"Vhat's that," he said.

"How do you keep it hidden?"

"The professor built me a special watch called an image inducer so people vouldn't freak out vhen they saw me," he explained.

"That's smart," I said with a nod. I suddenly heard a loud rumbling and turned to see that the bus had finally arrived. "Finally!" I exclaimed. "The bus is here; let's go Kurt!" I grabbed my bags and quickly ran toward it. Since Kurt and I were closest to the street, I was first on the bus and secured the most coveted section: the back. I took the seat furthest to the back and plopped my bag next to me. Rogue and Kitty sat in front of me, Scott and Jean sat in front of them and Kurt and Evan sat opposite me. I pulled out my iPod touch, opened up my favorite playlist, put it on shuffle and pulled out one if my favorite books of all time "Crank" by Ellen Hopkins. 35 pages later I failed to realize that we were still at the school and the beat up green jeep that pulled up behind the bus. 25 minutes and 40 pages later, I felt the bus shift and looked up to see if we were actually heading out. I was disappointed to see that it was just a REALLY REALLY big dude with a blond Mohawk. 'Dang! How is the bus still intact with him on here,' I thought with a shudder as I returned to my book. Had I been paying attention I would have seen the other three boys who also boarded the bus. I felt a sudden pull forward, looked out the window and saw that we were finally leaving the school. 'It's about time!' I yelled in my head. I guess I must've fallen asleep during the ride to camp because one moment I remember the bus pulling out of the school front and the next I felt myself being shaken by Rogue.

"Are we there yet?" I asked sleepily. My body needs to have at least 9 ½ hours of sleep and going to bed at 10 and waking up at 5:30 wasn't nearly enough.

"Yeah suga, ya fell asleep. It's time to get off tha bus," she replied with a hollow smile.

"How do I look?" I asked in a fully awake voice. Sometimes when I had taken a really good nap, there was usually a long trail of drool that graced my cheeks and a wild mess that I called my hair. There was no way I was going to step off this bus looking like I was violently attacked in my sleep. No sir.

"Ya look fahne. Now let's go before I drag you off this bus," Rogue replied in a somewhat irritated tone.  
I put hands up in defeat and said "Okay okay. No need to issue threats." Rogue and I exited the bus and I found myself face to face with blinding sunshine. 'Ugh,' I thought with a sneer as I looked down at my cappuccino colored skin, 'I'm black; I don't need to tan. I like the way my skin is thank you.'

I stepped of the bus after Rogue and followed her toward the rest of where the institute kids were chatting with each other. I scanned around the camp grounds only to see the big Mohawk guy standing with three unfamiliar students who I didn't notice on the bus before. One of them was short with a sickly complexion and dirty looking hair, the other was a rough looking brunette with fingerless black gloves and I couldn't see the third ones face that well but I could plainly see his pure snow white hair. 'Hmm, what a weird color,' I thought with an inquisitive face.

I was snapped out of my observations as I heard an ear deafening high pitched whistle. I heard a man yell "Everyone up against the bus!" I, along with every other teenager there who had an ounce of common sense, quickly followed his demand.

A short but muscular man with sunglasses said in a booming voice "My name is Sergeant Hawk and I'll be your camp counselor for the weekend." Oh boy,' I thought with a grimace. Remember what I said about being ready for anything; well I take that back. 'This is going to be hell.'

*=A pair of pants that looks and feels like leggings but has pockets and a zipper.


	4. Survival of the Fittest

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update! I've been buried in work at school. BTW I just realized that I put 'survival of the fittest' at the beginning of the last chapter, but that was a mistake. This is the real survival of the fittest. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

Survival of the Fittest

_At Stokes Maximum Security Facility_

A guard enters a heavily secured prison holding cell through a series of doors. As he walks up to a control panel, he pushes a button which brings up a large container filled with a gooey looking green substance and reveals a large man dressed in red held within it. He presses another button which makes the green substance drain away and the guard suddenly morphs into a blue skinned woman with red hair. "Wake up, Cain," she says with a sinister smile. "It's time you had a long overdue family reunion with your brother: Charles Xavier." As the man hears "Charles Xavier" his eyes widen in surprise then quickly squint down into anger.

_At survival camp_

Sergeant Hawk opened his mouth and said "You will not be making wallets, necktie racks or paper weights. You will not be engaging in potato sack races, water balloon tosses, or pony rides. You will be taken 20 mile hikes, repelling 200 foot cliffs and crossing treacherous waters with no more than a rope and all the courage you can muster. Do you read me?"

"Yes, Sergeant Hawk, sir!" The other students and I respond.

"I said DO YOU READ ME!" Sergeant Hawk repeated in a louder more forceful tone.

"YES, SERGEANT HAWK, SIR!" we reply much louder than before.

"Welcome to Iron Back survival camp, a name you won't soon forget. Now here we have a young man "Scott Sumner-," Sergeant Hawk began to say.

"Summers," Scott corrected.

Acting as if Scott didn't say anything, Sergeant Hawk continued on to say "Whose scholastic achievements at Bayville High have earned him the rank of group leader. You will be following his lead. You've got ten minutes to store your gear and report to the training field. DISMISSED!" Groans of dissatisfaction were heard as the normal students walked away following Sergeant Hawk. I immediately thought 'Ugh! I've only been here five minutes and I want to leave already!' but I was never going to say that out loud. I'm not a wimp in any way, shape or form, so I didn't want to be thought of as one by anybody.

Kitty groaned, sat on her suitcase and said "Ugh, I'm going to be dead in like two days."

"What about me," Evan said "I'm a city kid!"

"Vhat did ve ever do to deserve this?" Kurt said with a sad face.

Rogue quickly picked up her bag and said "I'm going AWOL. Anyone know how ta hotwire a school bus?" She started toward the bus until Scott stopped her and said "Whoa whoa, slow down private. Come on, we're not washing out in front of the whole school, besides Professor X endorses this place."

"Yeah," Jean piped in, "At least he gave us a choice: survival training here or with Wolverine."

Rogue scoffed and said "Some choice."

"Come on. We can do this," Scott encouraged. More groans and Evan saying "Sergeant Hawk should be told I'm a city kid" over and over again. 'Whiny babies,' I thought with annoyance as they went on for about 5 minutes. After everyone but Scott and Jean finished complaining, they decided that it was getting them nowhere so they decided to go put away their stuff. 'Finally!' I exclaimed in my head. I picked up my duffel bag and _slowly_ followed them wanting to prolong the inevitable as much as possible.

I suddenly heard voices close by, so I looked around and to my left I saw the four boys from before talking. Being the great eavesdropper that I am, I began to walk even slower and listened in on their conversation to see what they were talking about.

"Group leader, Scholastic achievement," big Mohawk guy said with a sneer. "That should've been me!"

"You can't even spell 'scholastic achievement', Blob," one of them mocked. I assumed it was the white haired guy because his face was the only one I couldn't see.

"But I can spell "duped" which is what that goody goody gang _is_ after _I_ get them alone in the woods," Mohawk guy continued with a sinister smile.

"Yeah, I can hear it now," the weird skin colored boy said. "Search and rescue efforts abandoned for missing teens. No traces found. Ha ha."

"Hey," the brunette said. "Easy guys, we'll beat them where it hurts most: in public; in front of everyone. Let's go."

They started to walk off and that's when I finally saw the white haired boy's face. 'Damn!' I thought 'He is fine! Whoa did I just think that?' As much as I hated to admit it, my female hormones were right. He was fine; strong jaw, two bangs that were slicked back with the rest of his snowy hair, an earring in his left ear*good sign*, and a gleaming white smile that somehow managed to match the purity of his hair. Without even reading his mind I could tell that he was an arrogant bad boy just from the way he walked, but his devastatingly handsome looks seemed to cover up that major flaw. He glanced up and saw me looking at him. His piercing blue eyes locked onto my warm brown eyes and for a nanosecond I blushed before mentally kicking myself. 'Never let 'em see you blush,' my sister LaToya used to always tell me, 'If you do they'll think that you're vulnerable and easy to manipulate, and that's when they go in for the kill.'

So, in an attempt to show him I wasn't that type of girl, I gave him my most flirtatious smile and winked my eye at him leaving him confused, shocked and slightly attracted to me. I love being an empath because people's feelings are always so exposed to you. He suddenly recovered from his brief wave of his emotions before becoming confident and giving me a sexy smirk and a wink back. 'Oh so that's how he wants to play,' I thought. 'Interesting.' I intended on seeing where this was heading, but before that I had to gather some information. I gave an equally, if not more, sexy smirk and walked to catch up to Rogue and the others leaving him no time to even question who I was as well as leaving behind a little bit of mystery.

Curious about the boys I just saw I pulled Rogue slightly away from the group and in a hushed voiced asked her "Hey Rogue can I ask you a question?"

"About what?" she said with a suspicious tone.

I pointed back toward the boys and said "Who are they?"

"Oh them," she said with disgust. That's tha Brotherhood. They're just a group of mutant idiots. The big one is Fred, the short one is Todd, the brunette is Lance and the white haired one is Pietro. I used to know live with 'em before I came to tha institute so I know what they're like. I would stay away from them if I were ya."

"Good to know. Thanks for the heads up," I said as we continued walking. Although I'm prone to do the opposite of what people tell me, I decided to do listen to Rogue and stay away from them, but she never told me I had to stay away from _just_ Pietro. I looked back and saw him pointing at me while talking to Lance, Fred and Todd. 'Wonder what he's talking about?' I thought as I turned my head back around and just continued walking away.

"Hey guys," Pietro said with excitement in his voice. "Did you just see that? That girl was totally checking me out."

"You think every girl checks you out," Lance said dismissively.

"Well what girl are you talkin' 'bout, yo?" Todd asked.

"That one with the dark brown hair walking with Rogue," he replied as Mina looked back at him the exact moment he pointed toward her.

The rest of the Brotherhood dropped their mouths in a state of shock. From what they saw briefly of her face, she was absolutely GORGEOUS! But one question went unanswered and Lance being the only common sensed person asked "But who is she and why is she walking with an X-Geek?" Everyone else snapped out their ogling and pondered the question.

_Back at Stokes Maximum Security Facility_

The blue haired woman named Mystique studied the green substance and said "Cellular paralysis bio fluid. Amazing, they've actually stopped the unstoppable." The big man in red tried to move but couldn't seem to. "It'll take a few moments before you can move. Then I'll sneak you out of this horrible prison where, now who was it that locked you away? Oh that's right. Your brother, Charles Xavier." The man in red sneered and growled lowly.

Mystique smirked and said with a chuckle "Sore subject."

For the first time the big man in red spoke and in a deep voice asked "Who are you?"

She walked away from him, opened up a compartment in the wall and picked up what seemed to be a metal helmet. Walking toward him she placed the helmet upon his head and said "A deal maker. I arrange your early release and you deliver to me one item in your brother's possession: his mutant detection system known as 'Cerebro'."

"And my brother?" he asked.

While buckling the latches on the helmet to secure it into place, a sinister chuckle escaped her throat and she replied "I leave his fate in your capable hands. You are after all, the unstoppable Juggernaut." She began to say "Now, I have a plane waiting. It will take you- uh," but she didn't get the chance to finish her sentence because Juggernaut had pushed her out of his way and said "No one, no one takes Juggernaut anywhere; and nothing gets in my way." He punched the door causing it to break and stormed out of the room.

"Charming," Mystique said with an unamused look on her face.

_Back at Iron Back_

'Well isn't this original,' I thought with sarcasm. Before me stood a wooden structure with a lot of ropes attached to it that we were expected to climb. 'Nobody ever thought of making kids climb a freaking rope, especially at camp.' Sergeant Hawk had told us that we were going to participate in a two part mini obstacle race. First we had to climb a rope, repel down a zip line, then untie a knot that held a small rowboat that we had to navigate across the lake and make it to the finish line. I looked up at the task above me, scoffed while shaking my head and said out loud "Easy." I looked to my left and right and saw everyone else had a look of annoyance and frustration, EXCEPT Pietro who had a smile on his face that clearly but silently agreed with my opinion. Sergeant Hawk blew his whistle signaling us to start climbing up the rope. I started going up the rope with little effort thanks to the upper body strength I retained from being a gymnast and saw I was neck and neck with Pietro. 'Wow,' I thought. 'He's fast. I'm impressed.' I looked down and saw everyone else, minus Scott and Lance, was still struggling to make it up the rope. Then I saw something that struck fear in me: Fred getting ready to climb up. 'This ain't going to end well,' I thought with a grimace. He gave a tug and he started to climb about a foot and the structure started leaning downward. Meanwhile I gripped the rope tightly trying to hang on for dear life, before continuing my climb. Luckily, the structure held up but unfortunately for Fred the rope snapped and he fell down to the ground.

He groaned and said "I'm not built for this kind of stuff."

As Pietro and I made it to the top we looked at each other and paused. I gave him a smirk as I grabbed the zip line and made my way down the rope. He quickly followed suit because when I around and saw Pietro, Scott and Lance repelling down the line as well. I made it to the ground first and started untying the knot that was attached the boat which was the last obstacle left in the way of victory. After I finished untying it, I had decided to let Scott row the boat across the lake because I didn't miss the fierce look of raw masculine competition that burned in Scotts eyes when he and Lance exchanged looks.

Pietro, obviously seeing an opportunity to talk to me, confidently strolled up to me getting ready to introduce himself. "Hey there," he said. "I've never seen you around before. The names Pietro, what's yours?"

"Mina and I already knew who you were," I replied wanting to inflate his confidence before I popped it. I licked my plump and pink lips, put my hand on my hip and said "I know all about you."

"Oh, so you've heard about me?" he asked cockily.

"Yeah; I know all about how you're an egotistical jerk and an arrogant womanizer who can get any girl he wants, when he wants. But guess what you'll never get me if that was your intention," I said while smirking at him.

"Ooh, that sounds like a challenge," he responded while getting closer to me.

"So what if is? What are you going to do about it, pretty boy?" I said while inching closer to him as well. I leaned in so my mouth was next to his ear and in a soft whisper said "I am a challenge; one you'll never win, because I never lose."

Matching my boldness, he leaned into my ear, whispered and said "Neither do I."

"There's a first time for everything," I said as I pulled my mouth back from his ear, purposely brushing my lips lightly against his cheek. I then traced my index finger along his strong jaw line while looking deep into his eyes as if to hypnotize him with mine but when I touched him something weird happened. I felt this jolt of electricity run through my finger and he must've felt it to because he jumped slightly. I immediately shook it off and as I walked away I looked back and saw he had a smirk on his face. 'Looks like he's someone who isn't easily intimidated,' I thought. 'But I'm going to need to be tough if I'm going to show him Semina Wilson isn't so easily won over.' I looked toward Scott and Lance and saw them talking.

Lance asked Scott "You swim?"

"Yeah," Scott replied

"Pity," Lance said as he held his hand out. I suddenly felt the ground shake and rumble and saw Scott fall into the water. 'So Lance makes earthquakes,' I thought. 'I wonder what everyone else can do.' I had never really taken the time to learn everyone's powers yet because I wanted to be surprised. When Lance used his powers, everyone else came running up to see what was going on.

"That cheating chump!" Evan exclaimed as what looked like bone spikes started growing out of his arms. 'Damn, that must hurt,' I thought a little freaked out as I scrunched up my face. Evan lifted his arm as if he was going to punch something but Jean came up and grabbed his hand. "Whoa, we agreed not to use any powers out here, remember? You know, just man against nature."

I didn't remember being told this bit of information so I whispered to Kurt "Wait, no one told me that."

"You fell asleep on zhe bus, remember and I guess Rogue forgot to tell you," Kurt whispered back.

"Oh, yeah!" I exclaimed quietly.

"That guy needs his boat popped," Evan argued.

Jean put her hands on his shoulders and said "Yeah, well Scott's cool. He'll handle it like a group leader should."

I turned my attention back to the lake and as Lance was still paddling toward the finish line, I saw Scott lift up the glasses he never took off and shoot a red beam out of his eyes. 'Epic!' I thought with excitement. 'That's a cool power. Is that why he always keep his glasses on?' The beam hit the side of Lance's boat, causing it to pop and resulted in Lance being thrown into the water.

"Or not," Jean sighed.

Scott climbed back onto his boat and rowed quickly to the finish line. Everyone but the Brotherhood cheered as Scott claimed victory. Sergeant Hawk blew his whistle which meant that the obstacle race was over and that there was a winner. Lance angrily punched the water and Fred walked up to Jean and said "That loser Scott should have lost and you know it."

Pietro then said "Yeah, just because he slipped into the bath, the guy went ballistic."

"Slipped? More like avalanched," Kurt retorted accusingly.

"He stole that first place ribbon!" Todd said

"He did not!" Kitty squeaked defensively.

"You want that ribbon so bad, I'll pin it to your forehead," Rogue threatened. This set off a shouting match between the institute teens and the Brotherhood, which Sergeant Hawk didn't like too much because I noticed him look at the group of mutants and growl. Lucky for me I was standing off to the side; I didn't want any part of that, especially now that Sergeant Hawk had noticed. He immediately blew his whistle and yelled "On the ground, now! I want 60 push-ups done by everyone and I mean _everyone_," while casting a warning glance at me. 'UGH!' I groaned in my head. 'I ain't even do anything.' As I walked to join the group he told me "Sorry, no special treatment darlin'." After completing the push-ups everyone dropped to the ground exhausted, including me. When training with Aunt Viv, the most I ever did was was 50 so it was natural for me to be just a little tired.

"Now on your feet," Sergeant Hawk instructed. Groans and complaints of pain were uttered as we all got off of the ground. "Here at Iron Back, we got ways to weed the loudmouths from the tough guys. We fight it out _in_ the wilderness _against_ the wilderness. You grunts want to prove how tough you are, fine! First team to snatch the flag I planted up there on Mt. Humiliation and brings it back to me wins."

"Cakewalk," Pietro exclaimed. "Our team can take a sauna, I'll get it myself." 'Someone's mighty cocky,' I thought.

"Not if I beat you there," Kurt said.

"The whole team or no one!" Sergeant Hawk said in a 'that's final' tone. "As proof, I want a snapshot of every member, right there at the top," he said while pointing toward the mountain peak. "ARE WE CLEAR?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" we responded in unison. 'Yay what can be more fun than climbing a mountain,' I thought with heavy sarcasm as I rolled my eyes.

Before walking off he said "You'll leave in five from opposite trails. Be ready."

As everyone left to begin to prepare for the challenge ahead, Lance told Scott "Better say your farewells, 'Sumner' cause you guys aren't coming back."

"Oh you got something in mind, rock tumbler," Scott said while reaching to take off his glasses, "'Cause I-"

"Scott," Jean said while taking his hand away from his face. "What do you think you're doing?

"What, nothing! I'm just fed up with those delinquents getting away with everything while we're stuck playing by the rules."

Lance then said "Hey, we don't need our powers to beat you."

"Aw fine then," Scott countered with a serious expression. "We'll all play it straight and you know what, we'll all wave to you from the top."

"Good! That's the deal," Jean said relieved while not noticing that Scott and Lance were walking away. "We're all competing fairly. No powers. And I personally am very proud of-,"

"Come on, Jean," Scott said dragging her away from her would be lecture.

_Meanwhile at the X-Mansion_

Professor X was sitting in front of Cerebro with a helmet on his head, when Logan came in and asked "Is Cerebro locating new mutant sigs?"

"No," Professor replied. "Just our students at Iron Back. They've been a little active."

"Hmm," Logan responded. "Did you tell them not to use their powers?"

"No," the professor said truthfully. "I was hoping they'd make that decision themselves."

"Well I still say you should have let me handle their survival training." Logan sneered.

The professor replied by saying "I gave them that choice, Logan. They felt they had a better chance of surviving the camp."

**Beep Beep Beep!**

"Well, well seems we have a new mutant on the scene after all," Professor X said with curiosity.

A robotic female voice said_:_

_Discovery: Enhanced Mutant Signature_

_Identity: Confirmed and matched to archive file_

"Archive file?" Professor X said with confusion in his voice. "Who would-?" He began until he saw the mutants face come up on the screen and let out a gasp.

_Name: Cain Marco _

_Residence: Stokes County Maximum Security Prison_

_Current Location: In transit; upstate New York_

"No!" the professor said quietly. His tone was underlined with worry and fear.

"Cain Marco?" Logan questioned "Who's-"

"My half-brother," the professor answered before Logan could even finish his question. "Somehow he's escaped. But that's that's impossible."

"What's an 'enhanced mutant' signature?" Logan asked.

"He possessed an X-gene at birth, but it was dormant most of his life. So he awakened it with mysticism."

"Hmm. What kind of powers does he have?" Logan inquired.

"He's become a juggernaut; invulnerable." Professor X answered. At that very moment, Juggernaut is walking down a country road when two police cars pull in front of him. He flips them over with no effort at all and just continues walking toward the object of his rage: Professor X.

"Logan, contact Ororo and tell her to take the X-Jet. We're going to need to create a distraction to draw attention from Juggernaut," Professor X stated.

_Back at Iron Back survival camp_

"Come on!" Scott yelled. "Pick it up, were almost to the base!" We had been running down a dusty trail to make it to where we had to start climbing up Mt. Humiliation to retrieve the stupid flag.

"What's with, Mr. Decathlon? He's as bad as Sergeant Hawk," Rogue huffed.

Kitty panted and said "All he cares about is winning this thing. Hey, Kurt? Can't you like make yourself useful and just teleport us up to the top?"

"This trip is of zhe power free variety, I'm told." Kurt responded.

"And besides that, don't you think it's a little dangerous for Kurt to teleport six other people with him to the top of a tall mountain," I added in.

"I guess," Kitty replied.

"Just follow Scotts lead on this. We'll win, you'll see." Jean said while grabbing Kitty and Kurt's arms in an attempt to make them go faster. Just then Evan stopped running and began to swat the air while saying "The mosquitos here are the size of pelicans. No bugs like this in the bird, man. Why are we here again?"

The Brotherhood boys were just a little closer to the top than everyone else. "What's taking you boys so long?" Todd asked while hopping/climbing up the mountain. While Todd was climbing, Pietro and Lance had decided to take an alternate approach, courtesy of Fred. A rope had been tied around Fred's overalls and was being tightly held by Pietro and Lance. So while Fred did all the work climbing, Pietro and Lance just hung onto it and walked up the mountain.

"Man, if he slips and falls, we are history; death by blubber bomb!" Pietro said.

"Fastest way to the top is a straight line, Pietro. We are winning this race, make no mistake," Lance reassured.

_Somewhere over New York_

Ororo, who received Logan's message from the professor, was flying the X-Jet over a forest. She pressed a button and said "Engage auto pilot." She arose from the pilot's seat and headed toward the back of the jet where she stepped onto a metal square platform with a stand attached to it and strapped herself in. The platform rose in the air and brought her outside the jet where she lifted her hands and made a thick cloud of fog that spread itself over the forest making it difficult to see.

_At the X-Mansion_

"And efforts to locate this powerful convict have been hampered by the unexpected appearance of dense inland fog. Let's go to Haley Taylor for more on this strange weather," the TV reporter said before the professor turned off the TV.

(Very good, Storm. Keep it up), professor told Ororo telepathically. As Logan walked in Professor X said "If no one can see Cain, then no one will be foolish enough to try to recapture him."

"If I can't stop him Charles, your best protection will be in the Danger Room. I've got it ready," Logan said as he and the professor made their way out of the room and towards the elevator that would bring them to the danger room.

"Yes, it may slow him down, but it won't stop him," Professor X said solemnly.

"Do you have any defense against him at all?" Logan asked.

Professor X replied "Just one: my mind. With enough psychic blasts I can disable him, unless he's wearing his helmet."

Juggernaut who is still making his way toward the X-Mansion is walking down the foggy road while a train is passing. He simply hits the train causing it to derail and continues forward without even a glance as to the amount of damage he created.

_On Mt. Humiliation_

Fred had already made it to solid ground very close to the top of the mountain, but forgot one little detail until Lance yelled "Hey, Freddy! A helping hand?" He and Pietro were just dangling off the side of the mountain waiting to be pulled in by the oversized teen who clearly forgot about them. Fred quickly understood what they meant and began to walk forward while Pietro and Lance were being dragged up the jagged mountain yelling a chorus of 'ows' and ouches'. They brushed off their clothes and walked toward Fred.

"An abandoned mine?" Lance questioned as he, Pietro and Fred got closer to a closed off section of the mountain.

"Toad's checking for a shortcut," Fred told them. Just then Todd came out and said "Hey, there's a tunnel in there that's like a stairway to the top."

Lance happily said "Now you're talking," while walking toward the barricaded mine and ripping off the cautionary wood panels and throwing them on the ground. "That flag is ours!" The rest of the Brotherhood had failed to notice the word 'DANGER' painted in bold letters behind the piece of wood.

Meanwhile the Xavier teens were almost to the top as well. Scott looked and saw the peak was near.

"Spot the flag?" Kurt asked.

"No, pop up top and see if it's still there," Scott suggested.

"But I thought-," Kurt had started to protest but paused and said "What about Jean?"

"Hey, you wanna win or not?" Scott asked. Kurt looked own in thought and said "Okay fine. But she's not going to like this I can tell you that." He teleported to the top as everyone made it to where Scott was. Kurt returned and said "It is there. Ve are very close, and no sign of the enemy."

"Forget the pitons! Evan, spike a rope up there," Scott said while trying to hand Evan the rope. "Time is wasting!"

"You sure?" Evan asked uncertainly. Scott just looked at him. "You look pretty sure to me, man," Evan confirmed. Evan walked toward the mountain side and sprouted three bone spikes out of his wrist. He tied the rope around one of them and launched it toward the top. I thought 'There is no way that'll hold anyone but Kitty up.' I didn't care how much Scott wanted to win, I wasn't about to risk possible death from a concussion for no one. I would rather take my chances climbing up.

"That flag is ours." Scott exclaimed walking toward the rope. He started climbing, but looked back and saw everyone else had a scowl and an expression that read 'You're pathetic.' Jean walked toward the mountain and Scott offered her the rope. She looked at him 'hmphed' and started climbing up the mountain without the ropes assistance. I, along with everyone else, followed suit and stared climbing; while Scott just looked defeated before doing the same.

Being led by Toad, the Brotherhood navigated their way toward the 'staircase to the top', only to find out it wasn't what the expected. Lance took one look at it before grabbing Todd, pinning him against a wall and yelling "You bonehead! We can't get through there! We probably lost 'cause of you!" The mine was shaking slightly but he didn't seem to notice.

Todd, who looked scared, nervously replied "I kinda figured you could avalanche it loose a little bit."

"He's right," Pietro said. "Give it some more juice, Lance and you'll unclog it."

"Alright," Lance said while putting Todd down. "Stand back." He put his hands out in front of him and started shaking the mine some more. Unfortunately, not only did he not unclog the staircase, his powers caused the entire mine shaft to start to shake violently. Fred yelled "Look out! It's coming down," as big hunks of rocks began to fall and the shaft collapsed on top the boys.

The Xavier kids were still climbing when it happened but managed to not feel what happened yet, except for one person. "Ouch!" I exclaimed quietly as I felt a strong wave of fear and hysteria sweep over my body. Although I can feel emotions, when certain ones are strong enough and close by they can cause me short bursts physical pain. 'Whatever's going on with the Brotherhood it has them seriously freaking out,' I thought. 'There's something weird going on with the Brotherhood, I can feel it.'

I was about to tell everyone but I was interrupted by Scott yelling "There it is! Victory!"

I was just about to continue trying to tell them when the mountain started to shake. 'I knew it,' I said in my head. 'I hope Pietros okay.' Whoa, where did that come from? Since when did I care about his well-being? I just met him!

Before having a chance to wonder any further, I heard a scream and looked down to see Evan plummeting toward the ground. I was frozen in fear because my telekinesis was too weak to pull him up so; there was nothing I could do. All of a sudden he just stopped falling, so I looked up and saw Jean with her arm outstretched and concentration on her face. 'SHE'S TELEKINETIC TOO!' I practically yelled in my mind. 'This is just great. We're both telepathic and telekinetic. Whoopee!' I thought with sarcasm. As Jean brought Evan back up he said "Whoa, I don't recommend that," while pointing over the mountain. Kurt and Kitty rushed to his side to pull him away from the edge unless of course he wanted to fall again.

"Nice move," Scott said to Jean. "That tremor had to be Lance. So they gotta be close."

"No shit, Sherlock," I muttered under my breath as I walked toward away from this sad, sad scene while trying to pinpoint Pietro I mean the Brotherhoods location with my telepathy.

"Jean, levitate us all to the top," Scott said. Jean put her hands on her hips and said "No way, forget it."

"What!" Scott exclaimed. "You just used your powers. What's the difference?"

"That was life and death, this contest isn't. It seems like X-Men ought to know the difference," Jean retorted. 'X-Men?' I thought before hearing Rogue yell "Over here!" I rushed to where she was and saw she was looking down a wooden shaft. "It's them," she said while pointing down the shaft.

"We're caved in!" Todd yelled up. "Aw come on! Don't leave us down here, man; not for some stupid flag." I looked at Scott thinking that he would leave them until he surprised me by saying "We won't." Jean just looked at him and smiled.

_Back At the X-Mansion_

Logan and Professor X walked onto the danger room while professor said "His failed relationship with our father and his resentment of me fueled his anger. But after he was empowered that anger became destructive and dangerous; he had to be locked away. I had no choice."

**Beep! Beep! Beep! **

"He's here," Logan said putting the mask from his X-Men suit on his face and heading out the door.

In the front of the mansion, Juggernaut, who was being followed by Mystique, said "Lay out the welcome mat, brother. I'm coming home." As Juggernaut walked up the stairs, he was attacked by Wolverine who was hiding on a balcony. Juggernaut easily threw him off of him and continued walking toward the door. Wolverine jumped in front of him to block his path and Juggernaut said "You can't stop the Juggernaut!"

"Forgive me for trying, bub," Wolverine responded as he leapt toward him again. Wolverine tried to attack him with his adamantium claws, only to be punched and sent flying through the front door. Juggernaut entered with Mystique trailing behind him. She looked at the destroyed door and said "Hmm, I expected better."

Wolverine once again got up, rushed toward Juggernaut again and was thrown through two wooden walls. Juggernaut walked through the walls destroying them completely, while Mystique walked in and looked down at the debris on the ground previously known as Cerebro. "No!" she exclaimed while picking up the destroyed helmet. "That muscle head!"

Wolverine and Juggernaut were still fighting when Wolverine was thrown through a ceiling and landed on a hard metal floor. Juggernaut came through that gaping hole and almost crushed Wolverine before picking him up and throwing him against the door to the Danger Room. Wolverine's head hit the medal door but he only groaned and grabbed his head. Juggernaut came charging at him breaking down the door and knocking Wolverine unconscious in the process.

"You lumbering imbecile!" Mystique said as she walked in. "What did you do? Sit on Cerebro! You smashed it! What happened to our deal?" Juggernaut raised his hand and said "I don't make deals!" before swatting her away. She was sent flying back and landed right in front of the professor's wheelchair.

"Charles," Juggernaut began to say, "Aren't you going to welcome me home?"

_Back on Mt. Humiliation_

I watched as Scott repelled down the shaft to retrieve the last Brotherhood boy, who just happened to be Lance. 'Oh the irony,' I thought with a chuckle. The acoustics were great in there so I heard Scott tell Lance "Hang onto my back."

Lance just said "Forget it! I'll pull myself up."

All Scott had to say was "See you at the top." After seeing Scott and Lance come into view, I turned my attention toward everyone else and heard Fred say "Pietro," while pointing toward the white flag perched on top of the mountain. Pietro followed his pointing finger, smirked and said "I'm there," before running off at an inhuman pace. 'Super speed?' I thought with a raised eyebrow. 'No wonder he climbed that rope from the obstacle course so fast.' Kurt who had seen Pietro run by exclaimed "Hey," before teleporting toward the flag. They had gotten there at the same time and began to pull the flag back and forth. While still struggling as to who was going to take the flag, a giant black jet came into view.

Ororo's voice came through the speakers and said "X-Men. Professor X is in danger and so is Mystique." 'Who the hell is Mystique?' I thought.

Scott looked at Lance and said "Up to it?"

Lance returned Scotts look and replied "Let's go." Ororo landed the jet in front of me and but before we left, we had to take a picture with the flag to give Sergeant Hawk, so we all huddled up together and snapped a picture. After that, everyone immediately ran toward the jet to grab their seats. Since I was closest to it, I was the first to board the jet. I looked around and saw that the jet was seated in two's.* I took the seat furthest to the back, plopped down and looked out the window while trying to think of what kind of danger the professor would be in. 'Whatever it is I'm ready for it,' I thought. My thoughts were interrupted as I felt someone sit next to me. I turned my head and saw it was none other than Pietro. He wasn't in what he had on earlier though, he was in a blue and silver spandex suit. 'He looks sexy,' I thought while trying to hide my grin of approval. As we took off, Scott threw the flag and picture out of the plane to where Sergeant Hawk was walking.

"So, it's kind of obvious that you're a mutant because if you weren't you wouldn't be on this jet. So what can you do?" he asked.

"Depends on what you mean by 'what I can do'," I countered as I crossed my arms.

"I'm mean what your power is," he said exasperatedly. "And besides whatever it is it's not better than mine."

I had to laugh at that. Did he seriously think that highly of himself? "Well, when you find out what it is, I'll make you eat your words," I said.

"Why can't you just tell me now," he said impatiently. "I know you want to. No one can resist me."

"Calm down. You and everyone else will see when we get there. My own team doesn't even know, so don't think I'm gonna give you special treatment just 'cause you're cute," I said before slapping my hand over my mouth.

"Ah," he said before smirking. "So you admit I'm the sexiest male on the earth, huh."

"Don't look too much into it, Pietro. I don't need to over inflate your already massive ego," I replied while rolling my eyes. 'Egotistical jerk,' I thought as I rolled my eyes. I hadn't meant to call him 'cute' it just slipped out. But who _could_ resist while he was wearing that suit. Speaking of suit, I looked around and saw everyone had changed; all into into different types of spandex battle suits.

"Whoa, whoa! Hang on a minute," I yelled as everyone turned around. "Where's my battle suit?"

Ororo spoke up from the pilot's seat and said "It's in a flat white box in the closet behind you. The professor and I had it made before you arrived to the institute."

"Really? Thank you," I told her as I got up. Just to torture Pietro, as I passed his seat that was next to the aisle, I poked my butt out just enough to make him stare. I looked at him and saw that exact reaction and a huge smile plastered on his face. As I walked to the closet I switched my hips really hard and looked back to see that he was trying to conceal the fact that he was staring, but he was failing miserably. So without even looking back, I telepathically told him (It's impolite to stare). He probably looked up at me startled before I disappeared into the door marked 'bathroom.'

I opened up the box looked inside and was impressed. 'Nice,' I thought with a grin. After I changed, I admired myself in the mirror. My suit was a sleeveless, black spandex jumpsuit with a collar that wrapped around my slender neck. It had an 'X' logoed zipper that started below my pierced belly button and zipped all the way up to my collar. The zipper was silver which matched the pair of knee-high heeled boots and fingerless elbow-high gloves I had. Around the rims of the boots, gloves and collar were sky blue waves that matched the 'X' logoed belt that hung loosely around my wide hips. Luckily the suit was stretchy enough for me to move around in so it was as sexy as it was efficient. As I slung my canteen on, I stepped outside the bathroom and asked everyone "So, how do I look?" When the words left my mouth everyone but Storms head turned to look at me. All jaws just hit the floor. The girls gave me envious glares as the boys, except Scott, gave me lustful stares.

"Okay, I take it I look good," I said with a laugh as every boy shook their heads yes. As I returned to my seat Pietro blurted out "That-suit-looks-good-on-you." The words left his mouth at a super-fast speed but I understood them anyway.

"I know. Thanks for noticing or should I say staring." I replied smugly whiling winking. He looked and felt like he was a little embarrassed and I hadn't failed to notice the very light pink blush that graced his cheeks. 'He's so cute when he blushes,' I thought. 'Ugh! Why do I keep doing that?'

"Yeah, so what if I did stare? My stare can make any girl's heart melt," he said arrogantly.

"Well," I said completely unaffected at his comeback. "I'm not _any_ girl and no matter what you say you still can't get me."

"Just you wait and see," he said. "Pietro Maximoff always gets what he wants."

"Ah, so you admit that you want me," I said just as smugly and arrogantly as he did before.

"So what if I do?" he replied defensively.

"Look," I began to say in a hushed tone. "I can already tell that you're not only an arrogant pompous ass who's completely self-centered and never had one girlfriend he didn't cheat on the moment a prettier girl came along, but you're also on the opposite team, so even if you did somehow manage to win me over, our 'relationship' probably wouldn't last anyway. Aren't the X-Men and the Brotherhood supposed to hate each other?"

"Yeah," he said. "We think your stuck-up pricks."

"And we think your delinquent thugs," I replied.

'You're right. We're just too different. I mean what would the X-Geeks think of you?"

"I wouldn't care what they think and besides who said I'm not willing to bend the rules a little." He just looked at me surprised at my bluntness before genuinely smiling, agreeing to my statement. We snapped out of 'moment' when we heard someone say something.

"What type of danger is the professor in, Storm?" Scott asked.

"The professor's brother Cain Marco, also known as Juggernaut, has somehow escaped from his prison cell and is on his way to pay Professor X an unwanted visit," she replied.

_In the Danger Room_

"You ungrateful thug!" Mystique said.

Professor X said "Cain, this doesn't have to end badly. This house is about new beginnings."

Juggernaut began to get closer to them and said "You're right, Charles. This is the beginning for me and the end for both of you."

"You've learned nothing, you never will. Activate 'Logan's run X-13'," the professor said in an attempt to slow him down. Saws came from the floors and walls and directed themselves toward Juggernaut. He easily broke them and continued walking toward the professor and Mystique. Then up from the floor came a machine with spinning maces attached to it. Juggernaut just held his hands out, deflected all of them, and ripped it out of its place. Wolverine, who finally regained consciousness, looked up just in time to see the destruction.

_On the X-Jet_

We approached the mansion and as Storm landed the plane she said "We're here. We must go now!" We all got off of the jet and ran toward the mansion. As we ran down a flight of stairs, I observed the damage and thought 'Whoever this Juggernaut guy is, he must be powerful.' We had and made our way toward a metal room which I guessed must be the Danger Room and I saw the professor, a big guy in red which I guessed was Juggernaut, and a blue skinned woman who I figured was Mystique. As Juggernaut got closer to them, Lance said "We'll take it from here."

"Well, now. This is a surprise," Mystique said.

As Juggernaut got closer to the professor he outstretched his hand to grab him, but Jean had stopped him by lifting him in the air with her telekinesis. She couldn't hold him up very long due to his massive size, but she did manage to turn his attention toward us.

"Cain's helmet; remove it!" Wolverine told us.

Juggernaut started to reach down for Jean, but was stopped when Blob bumped him with his stomach. "Unstoppable meet the unmovable," Fred said. Nightcrawler teleported on top of Juggernauts back and undid the first latch to his helmet. Juggernaut reached back, grabbed Nightcrawler off his back and threw him across the room. Juggernaut then charged at Blob knocking him into the wall. Cyclops kneeled on the floor and aimed his visor toward Juggernaut, who barely felt a thing. He picked up the machine he broke earlier and hurled it at Cyclops who dodged it. Avalanche aimed his tremor toward Juggernaut, causing him to fall while Quicksilver ran up to undo the second latch on Juggernauts helmet before being thrown off like Nightcrawler. Storm then approached him and made rapid winds that knocked Juggernaut back on the floor. Toad had tried to get close to Juggernaut to undo a latch only to be swatted away like a bug. Spyke aimed a lot of spikes toward him but they only bounced off of Juggernaut and flew around the Danger Room.

I was still standing close to the door because I thought everyone else had the situation under control, but clearly I was wrong. I checked my canteen and saw there wasn't enough water left for me to do anything and there wasn't nearly enough water in the air for me to use either. So I ran up to Storm and told her "Storm, I'm going to need you to make it rain really hard, okay." She looked at me as if I had two heads and looked like she wanted to ask why, so I said, "Don't ask me why, I just need the water." She still looked skeptical but did what I asked her to. Suddenly there was a huge rain cloud that covered the Danger Room and it began to rain heavily. Everyone looked up then at Storm then at me with a look of confusion on their faces, except the professor who just smiled.

"Perfect," I said with a devious smile. "Hey Juggernaut!" I yelled to get his attention. As he turned around to look at me I mocked "How do you think it's going to feel when you get beaten by a sixteen year old girl?"

As he started charging toward me, I put one of my hands in front of me, flipped my palms up and made the water below his feet turn to ice causing him to slip and fall onto the ground. He got up with some difficulty and came at me again. "Everyone move behind me!" I yelled so they didn't get in the way of what I was about to do next. When I saw everyone was out of my attacks range, I took a deep breath to try to calm my nerves. I had no guarantee this would work, but I had to try anyway. I turned the ice back into water, took a running start with my arms by my sides while gathering all the water in the Danger Room and sent a massive tidal wave toward Juggernaut causing him to be thrown in the wall. I then used the water to trap him in a water sphere that was spinning at 150 miles per hour to keep him in pinned to the wall. For anyone else, the speed of the water would have cut them in half, but Juggernauts impenetrable skin kept him safe. I knew this wasn't going to hold him for long and I was getting tired because it took a lot of my energy to keep the water spinning so fast, so I yelled "If anyone's going to do something, now's the damn time!" At that moment, Shadowcat and Rogue phased through a wall and undid the last two latches on Juggernaut's helmet and Toad snatched it off with his frog like tongue.

"No!" exclaimed as he grabbed his head. What was the big deal about his helmet being off?

It's a good thing Toad got the helmet off because I was getting dizzy and I dropped to my knee panting lightly. I felt heavy footsteps toward me and looked up to see Juggernaut coming toward with fury radiating off of him. Not only did his fury cause me physical pain but I was too dizzy to get up. 'Shit!' I yelled in mind as he got closer to where I was. I closed my eyes in anticipation of the attack but it never came. I opened my eyes and saw that someone had saved me. I looked up and saw Pietro looking down at me with a triumphant smirk on his face. I looked around and saw we were on the opposite side of the Danger Room away from Juggernaut and close to the professor. I then heard the professor say "I'm sorry, Cain."

I looked at Juggernaut and saw he was still coming toward us, but he stopped and grabbed his head in pain. I turned to my left and saw Professor X with a look of concentration on his face. 'Oh!' I said in my mind. 'Without his helmet, Juggernaut can't defend himself from psychic blasts.' Despite this he was still coming toward us. Professor X had a strained look on his face so I jumped in to help. I put my hands to the sides of my temples and sent a rather large psychic blast at him. He immediately dropped to the ground unconscious. As soon as he dropped, cheers erupted from the X-Men and Brotherhood members as they huddled around us.

"Now there's something you don't see every day," Mystique observed.

"I agree and that's a shame," Professor X replied.

Even though the battle was over, Pietro was still holding me. "Aren't you going to put me down now, speedy," I said with a weak smile.

"No, why would I pass up an opportunity to hold such a beautiful girl in my arms," he said arrogantly while flashing a bright smile at me.

As much as I secretly loved being in his arms, I had to show him I'm not easily swayed by his charm. "You can still put me down, though. I'm not helpless," I said with a little attitude.

"Fine," he replied before dropping me right on my ass. "What!" He exclaimed as I glared at him while rubbing my now sore butt. "You told me to put you down."

Evening the score, I using the water left over from my tidal wave to freeze his legs to the floor. He tried to break free but my ice was too thick for him to shatter. I began to pull myself off the floor, but I struggled to get up. That psychic blast really took a toll on me especially after the water sphere I made earlier. It was tough but I managed to keep myself balanced by using the wall as a support.

"Hey!" he exclaimed while still trying to get loose. "Let me go!"

"Ooh, someone's impatient. Fine, I'll let you as soon as you apologize for dropping me and admit my powers better than yours," I said with a taunting smile.

"What! No way!" he yelled.

I made his ice trap go higher until it was at the middle of his torso. "Wrong answer," I said. "So I'm going to give you one more chance. Apologize and say my powers are better."

"Fine! Sorry-for-dropping-you-and-your-powers-are-better than mine!" he said in a super-fast voice.

I wagged my finger and said "Uh, uh, uh. Again and this time say it slower."

He looked mortified, but sighed in defeat and stubbornly said "Sorry for dropping you and your powers are better than mine," while crossing his arms and avoiding my gaze.

"Aw, the great Pietro Maximoff admitting defeat so soon," I said in a baby voice while reaching to pinch his cheek. "That wasn't much of a challenge, now was it?"

He was just about to say something in his defense when Mystique yelled "Come on boys," as she began to leave with the rest of the Brotherhood following her. "Let's get out of here before you're invited to a slumber party." I unfroze his body and watched him walk away to join Mystique.

"Hey Summers," Lance yelled. "As a group leader you're only half bad."

"Well then next time, you can call the shots," Scott replied.

"Trust me, there won't be a next time," Lance said with a dismissive wave before continuing out of the door.

"Hey Pietro!" I yelled at him. He along with everyone else turned around to look at me. I telepathically told him (Your challenge to win me over starts Monday and try as you might this is one challenge you're going to lose!)

He smirked and responded "We'll see Monday then."

He started walking away again, so just to tease him I added (And by the way your ass looks nice in spandex) before winking. He turned back around and looked at me in shock; obviously he had never heard a girl compliment his ass before. "I know," he replied as if it was nothing but not before quickly blushing then speeding away.

Evan came up to me and asked "How and what did you say to him that made him run outta here like that? And why did you wink at him?"

"What I said to him is between Pietro and me," I replied holding back a laugh and a smile. "It's nothing that should concern you. As for how I told him, I think it's time that I told everyone my powers." Everyone quickly gathered around in anticipation as they waited for my revelation.

"Well from what you saw earlier, it's more than obvious that I'm hydrokinetic," I said while flicking my wrist upward to make some water turn into small wave. "I control and manipulate any type water into ice and vice versa making just about anything I want," I continued while making a small water disk that I hovered over my hand before letting it fall to the floor. "But besides that, I can do some other stuff, too."

"Like what?" Kitty asked in awe.

"I'm an empath so I can feel and control other people's emotions at will and…," (For those who didn't know, I'm a telepath.) I answered first verbally then telepathically. Everyone else had a look of amazement on their faces except Rogue, Jean and Professor X.

"And on top of that, I'm also telekinetic, but I don't have that under control yet so that's why I'm here," I said. Everyone but the professor just looked so shocked and bewildered, especially Jean, which made me smile at them.

Scott, being the first to break out of the shock, came up to me put his hand on my shoulder and said "Well, were glad to have you here, Mina. But-," he paused.

"But what?" I asked uncertain as to what he was going to say.

"You can't officially be an X-Man until you have a codename," he replied while smiling.

I thought for a moment before smiling and saying with a raised eyebrow "What about Tsunami?"

Comments of agreements were expressed as Scott said "I guess it's unanimous then. Welcome to the X-Men, Tsunami."

"Glad to be here," I told them. "Hey, Kurt! Come here a sec," I said while waving him over to me.

"Yeah, Mina?" he answered.

"Can you 'port me up to my room? I'm exhausted and can't really walk," I said sheepishly. Kurt just looked at me, smiled and said "Sure thing," before grabbing my waist and making us disappear in a cloud of smoke.

"Ooh, that was fun," I said while coughing slightly. "Tell everyone I said 'Good night' okay," I told him before giving him a little hug and plopping down on my bed. He nodded his head before teleporting out of my room. Suddenly something important occurred to me as I laid my head on my pillow. 'Damn it!' I thought angrily. 'I got my hair wet!'

*I know the X-Jet only seats one person per row, but this is how I want the story to go so bear with me.

A/N: So how'd you like it? Click the little button below and review please. POSITIVE COMMENTS ONLY! In the next chapter, Mina is going to start her first day at Bayville High so keep reading to find out what happens!


	5. Welcome to Bayville High

A/N: I'M SOOOO SORRY! I've been buried up my eyebrows in school work and haven't had the time to update. I hope I haven't lost any of my readers and just to make it up to you, I plan on posting a lot of new chappies for everyone! Here's Mina's first day at Bayville. ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution, play rights or any song used in this story so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

Welcome to Bayville High

After the fight with Juggernaut, I was beyond exhausted! Besides getting up to eat and use the bathroom, I practically slept all day Sunday. Before I knew it was Monday morning already and almost time for my first day at Bayville high. A loud beeping sound broke the bliss of silence in my room.

'Wow. I feel so much better,' I thought as I yawned and stretched to shut the alarm clock off. 'I really needed that.'

Somehow through all that sleep I managed to ask a few questions about my new school. Everyone else just said that it was just like every other high school; expect with a little bit more mutants than usual. I looked at my clock on the dresser beside my bed and saw it read '6:00 A.M.' School started at 7:30, but I had to get their early enough to find my classes but late enough to make a grand entrance while everyone is around. I swung my feet off my bed and headed toward my bathroom. I looked in the mirror and was overjoyed. Miraculously, my perm managed to survive the wet battle on Saturday and I was more than thankful for that.

'I knew I made a good decision when I got a super perm instead of a regular one,' I thought happily.

After I brushed my teeth and showered, I headed toward my closet and picked out my perfect first day of school outfit: a long, form-fitting strapless purple dress, a black half-cardigan and a pair of strappy, black high heels. After getting dressed, I walked toward the bathroom again, grabbed a comb and started to style my hair. I traced a part down the middle of my head separating my hair into two sections. I then made two more parts down the sides, close to my face making, two long bangs that seemed to frame my heart shaped face. I pulled out my miniscule makeup bag and pulled out some black eye shadow, mascara and a tube of light pink lip gloss. I don't usually wear make-up because putting too much on will damage my sensitive skin, but I guess just a little wouldn't hurt. I then put on a black star necklace with matching earrings and the special silver charm bracelet my Aunt Viv gave me. She got it for me after I was released from the hospital back when my powers first manifested. Each charm represented the different power I had gained over the years. The first charm was a brain, the second was a smiley face emoticon, and the third one was a water drop. The only times I take it off is to either train or shower otherwise I _**always**_ had it on. It was basically the closest piece of Aunt Viv I had, especially after her disappearance. Snapping out of the sad memory going through my mind, I double checked to make sure my hair was perfect and looked at the clock and saw it now read '6:32 A.M.' I walked across the room, grabbed my iPod Touch, cell phone, wallet and car keys off the dresser and put them in the safest part of my black Harajuka tote bag. I walked down the stairs and headed into the kitchen and this time I didn't get lost.

The moment I entered the kitchen I immediately smell cinnamon. 'Mmm, Ororo must be making pancakes,' I thought hungrily. "Good morning, everyone!" I cheerfully said. As weird as it sounded for a teenager, I was actually looking forward to going to school.

"Good morning, Mina," they replied.

"Wow, you look pretty," Kitty complimented. "I love your bracelet."

I looked down at my sparkling, silver bracelet and was quickly hit with another wave of sadness, but I quickly brushed it off. "Thank you. It is my first day after all and I want to make a good impression," I replied before taking a bite of my huge stack of pancakes.

"It's only school. No need ta look so nice," Rogue said.

I swallowed my food and took a sip of orange juice before stating "Yeah, but I like to make myself known."

"Well we should probably get going," Jean said. "We can't be late for school." Everyone quickly put their dirty plates in the sink, grabbed their book bags and headed toward Scott's car but stopped and looked at me when they saw I wasn't moving from my seat.

"What are you waiting for?" Jean asked.

"Nothing," I replied simply.

"Then why are you just sitting there?" Jean asked.

"I wanna finish my pancakes," I said gesturing toward my pile of fluffy goodness. "I'll get there on time. I do have a car, you know. "

"Well, okay," Jean said.

After everyone left, I polished off what was left of my pancakes, put the dirty plate in the sink and went back up to my room. I walked to my closet and grabbed a pair of black sandals and slid them on after I took my heels off. I didn't need to have them on all day and I realized that I couldn't really drive in these unless I wanted to cause an accident. After putting on my sandals, I picked up my heels and carried them with me as I headed back downstairs. I grabbed my bag from where I left it, went in the fridge to grab a bottle of water and proceeded out the door. I pressed the button on the wall in front of the garage and unlocked my Camaro with the car remote attached to my keys. After putting my bag and heels in the front seat and checking my gas tank and mirrors, I connected my iPod to its dock, picked the playlist with sings I like to drive to, strapped my seat belt on, started the engine and drove to school.

After driving for about 7 minutes, one of my favorite songs began to play. I turned up the volume to its max as "Moment 4 Life" by Nicki Minaj and Drake started playing. Halfway into the chorus, I saw the school come into view and pulled into the student parking lot. I looked out the window and saw almost every student marveling at my car, wondering who was inside of it. Good thing I have dark tinted windows or that would've ruined the surprise. 'Watch out, Bayville high. 'Cause here I here come,' I thought with a smirk. After pulling into a parking space, I turned off the engine, put my heels back on, grabbed my bag and water bottle and opened the door. As soon as I got out of the car and immediately felt all eyes on me. 'Exactly what I expected,' I thought with a smile. I closed my car door, locked it and walked toward the building fully aware of the longing stares I was receiving from the male population and the angry glares from the females. These normal human students had no idea what a mental wall was so I heard every one of their thoughts loud and clear. Some were jealous insults and some were too sexually dirty to even say out loud, but either way they were still about me and I just **love** being the center of attention. As soon as I stepped into the hallway, silence befell the students as they all ceased talking and movement briefly just to look at me. I continued walking with my head held high, a smirk on my lips and a twist in my hips. As I turned the corner, I heard the students resume their conversations as if nothing had even happened. I looked ahead and saw Rogue sitting alone on a bench reading a book, so I decided to join her.

"Hey, Rogue," I greeted.

"My, my. Looks like you were true ta ya word, Mina. Ya really are making yourself known," Rogue said looking at the crowd of ogling boys that just walked by.

"It aint real hard. This school acts like they've never seen a new girl," I said with a chuckle. Just then an earsplitting bell rang right above our heads.

"Ugh. Well, it's time to go to class," Rogue said as she closed her book and began to get up.

"Wait! Do you know where the office is? I really need to go pick up my class schedule," I told her.

"Just go around this corner and you'll find it," she replied as she pointed to the left and walked away in the opposite direction.

I turned the corner and saw a door with the word 'Office' written on it in bold letters. I walked in, went up to the secretary and said "Hi, I'm new and I'm here to pick up my class schedule." She just looked at me with blank eyes before rudely saying "Go see Principal Darkholme for it." She just pointed behind her as I narrowed my eyes at her and said "Okay."

I knocked on the door and heard a woman's voice say "Come in." I entered her office and saw a middle-aged woman with black hair and glasses sitting at a desk. She gestured toward the chair in front of the desk and told me to sit. "What's your name?" she asked.

"Semina Wilson," I answered.

"Ah yes, Semina Wilson. I trust you're enjoying your stay at the Xavier Institute," she said with a twisted smirk as she got up to close the blinds on the window.

"How did you-," I began to ask before I saw her skin turn blue and her hair turn red. "Ah, Mystique," I said unfazed by her transformation. "What exactly do you want?"

"Nothing, I just want to talk," she said plainly. "About you."

"What about me?" I said warily. "And is this going to take long, 'cause I got classes to get to."

"This won't take long, so let me just cut to the chase. You have exceptional control your powers and you would prove a more worthy ally rather than an adversary," Mystique said.

"So you want me to join the Brotherhood?" I asked with a chuckle.

"Precisely," she said.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm fine with where I am and I'm staying there," I stated matter-of-factly. "Can I just get my schedule so I can leave?"

She eyed me angrily for a moment before saying "Very well, but the offer remains open if you change your mind." She typed something into the computer and the printer started up and spat out a white sheet of paper that she picked up and handed at me along with a scrap piece of paper.

"Here's your schedule and locker combination, Ms. Wilson. Welcome to Bayville High," Mystique I mean "Principal Darkholme" said with a smile that seemed a little sinister.

I eyed her for a moment before taking the papers and lock out of her hands. "Thank you," I said with the best fake smile I could make. I began to get up as she said "And remember, I'll be watching you, _closely_."

"Noted," I said before exiting the office and looking at my schedule.

Semina Wilson

Student #: 0675869333

Grade: 10

Locker #: 174

1st period: Chemistry 1 Honors

Teacher: Mr. Jenkins

Room: 324

Time: 7:30 - 8:30

2nd period: English 2 Honors

Teacher: Mrs. Rain

Room: 446

Time: 8:37 - 9:37

3rd period: P.E

Teacher: Coach Stone

Room: Gym

Time: 9:44 - 10:44

Lunch

Time: 10:51 - 11:21

4th period: Advanced Acting 1

Teacher: Mr. Santos

Room: Theater

Time: 11:28 - 12:28

5th period: French 2

Teacher: Mademoiselle Galon

Room: 562

Time: 12:35 - 1:35

6th period: Pre-Calculus Honors

Teacher: Mrs. Holder

Room: 602

Time: 1:42 – 2:40

'Aww,' I thought sadly. 'I didn't get any AP classes this year. Oh, well.' I noticed the time on the clock mounted above a set of lockers and quickened my pace down the hallway toward my class. I was in the 400 hundred hallway so I had to eventually start running. It was a great thing god blessed me with the ability to run in heels, but unfortunately, I didn't run fast enough and by the time I made it to the door the bell had sounded about two minutes before. I pulled out my compact mirror, checked my hair and makeup and knocked on the door. A bald man in a blue argyle sweater vest answered the door and asked "May I help you?"

"Is this Chemistry 1 honors?" I asked. After he nodded his head I continued on to say "Hi, I'm Semina Wilson."

"Ms. Wilson, so glad you could join us. I'm Mr. Jenkins but you call me Mr. J. Why are you late?"

"I'm new and this first my first day here. I just got my schedule a few minutes ago and I didn't know where to go until I got it," I replied truthfully.

He just said "Because it's your first day, I'll make an exception but don't make a habit of being tardy." He passed me a worksheet and continued on by saying "Come on in and take the last open seat in the back next to Mr. Maximoff. That will be your permanent seat for the rest of the semester." As soon as I heard 'Maximoff' I instantly smirked. 'Ooh, Bayville High just got a little more interesting,' I thought. When we walked into class I once again felt all eyes on me, except for one person. I walked toward my seat next to Pietro who was too busy flirting with a ditzy looking blonde across the aisle to notice someone coming to sit next to him. For some reason, I narrowed my eyes at her and a slight twinge of jealously ran through me but I brushed it off and sat down.

"Hey there, pretty boy," I said teasingly.

He stopped his flirting and turned around while starting to say "Who are you calling-," until he looked at who called him a pretty boy. "Oh hey, Mina. I'll talk to you later, Mandy," he said turning his full attention toward me.

"My names Misty!" the blonde said glaring at me like it was my fault he lost interest in her.

"Yeah, whatever," he replied waving her away and thoroughly eyeing me up and down. "Well look at you. You don't have to try so hard to impress me."

I scoffed and said "Please, I aint wearing this to impress you."

"Sure you didn't," he replied in a tone underlined with evident doubt.

"Think whatever you want. I know you want all of this," I said while waving my hands over my body. "You don't have to lie about it either. I saw you checking out me."

"Yeah, right," Pietro said.

"Keep lying to yourself, quicky. I can see right through you," I smugly said. "Now if you don't mind, it's my first day here and I would actually love to get some work done, so you can finish your conversation with Misty over there." I turned my attention toward my worksheet without even seeing his reaction. A few minutes into my work, I heard Mr. J call my name.

"Semina, come here to receive your textbook, please," Mr. J said.

"Sure thing," I replied. As soon as I saw it, my eyes might have literally bugged out of my head. It was colossal! Good thing I had a locker to keep it in. No way was I going to carry this around with me all day. I knew I would have no trouble picking it up, but being a girl in a class of easily manipulated boys I asked in a helpless voice "Can someone help me carry this to my lab table?" About ten male students came running toward me so I picked the cutest one to carry it for me. As he set it down on my table, I winked and said "Thanks."

He just looked sheepishly at the ground before saying "You're welcome."

"I really appreciate it your help, er I'm sorry. I didn't catch your name," I said flirtatiously brushing my bang out of my eye.

"Josh," he said before slightly blushing.

"Well, thanks for your help, Josh," I told him as he returned to his table. The slightest feeling of jealously was emanating off of the white haired boy seated next to me. 'Huh, interesting,' I thought before finishing my worksheet. Class droned on for about an hour until the bell rang signaling 1st period was over. I took my schedule out of my bag and made my way toward English class, but before I even made it out the door Misty blocked my path and said "Listen up, new girl. Pietro's mine so stay away from him or I will make your life here a living hell."

I just looked at her with a face of disbelief that said 'I know you aint talking to me' and laughed right in her face. "Is that a threat? 'Cause that was about as pathetic as your tan. He never said anything about him being taken so he's free game for anyone."

"Is that so? If he's 'free game,' then why is taking _me_ out on a date Saturday night?" Misty replied haughtily.

"Why do I care?" I countered a little more forcefully than necessary. "I never said I wanted to go out with him now did I? Now move before I move you myself." She didn't budge so I roughly brushed past her almost knocking her down. As I continued toward English I thought 'I told her ass to move.' I made it there in record time despite my run in with Misty and took a seat in the desk furthest to the back. As luck would have it, Pietro just happened to have the same class and came and took the desk in front of me.

I sighed and playfully said "Are you a stalker or something? 'Cause I'm starting to think someone's getting a little attached."

"As if," he said.

"What are you doing in honors classes anyway?" I asked.

"Hey! I take offense to that. I'm just as smart as any of you x-geeks," he retorted.

"Then why are with the Brotherhood?" I countered.

"Same reason you're with the x-geeks," he replied.

"Touché," I said with smirk.

"Okay students," a lady with long, wavy brown hair and a sunny disposition said. "We have a new student in the back of the class," she continued while pointing toward me. "Everyone say 'hello' to Semina Wilson."

All the boys in the class except Pietro all goofily said hi while some girls waved and the other girls just scoffed.

"Hey, y'all," I said giving a small wave.

"My name is Mrs. Rain. Welcome to English 2!" she said cheerfully. "Come on up to get your textbook."

"Another one," I groaned grimly.

"I'll get it for her, Mrs. Rain," Pietro said. 'Wow,' I thought. 'That's real nice of him but it seems so out of character.'

"That's, um, very considerate of you, Mr. Maximoff," Mrs. Rain said. She looked just as surprised as everyone else.

As he returned to my desk he handed me my book and said "Here you go," while giving me a bright smile.

"Thank you?" I questioned rather than answering.

"You're welcome, Mina," he replied.

"Okay, you know what? I don't buy this 'nice guy' act for one second. What are you up to?" I asked. I'll admit that was sweet but it was more than suspicious.

"Nothing," he scoffed as he turned back around. "Can't a guy be nice everyone once in a while?"

'From what I know about you so far that's doubtful,' I thought. Another hour later, English class ended and I headed toward the gym for P.E. Carrying two heavy textbooks and walking around in heels proved to be difficult but I managed. I stepped in the gym the second the bell rang and looked around to see Kitty and Evan had the same class with me. I also saw Lance there and he was wistfully looking at Kitty. Kitty saw me come in and waved me over to where they were sitting.

"Hi, Mina. Like how's your first day going?" Kitty inquired.

"Fine, except there is one little thing that keeping me from focusing," I said as the bell ring

"What's that?" Evan asked. I then saw the gym doors open and saw none other than Pietro step in.

"Him," I said pointing at Pietro who was now being swarmed by ten, giggling females. "Pietro's had all of my classes so far and I can't give my full attention to my work because he just loves bothering me." 'Not that I mind,' I added as an afterthought.

"Maximoff is such a jerk! Always has been, always will be," Evan said annoyed.

"Has been? You knew him before you got to the institute?" I inquired.

"Yeah, he got me put in jail, man," Evan said angrily.

"Really?" I said. "How?"

"Back at my old school, he was stealing from peoples lockers and he blamed me for it," Evan answered.

"Why would he wanna steal from lockers?" I asked confused.

"He said it was for kicks; for the "challenge". Because of his super speed, he always needs something to occupy his time," Evan said.

"Oh," I said slightly disappointed. 'Does this mean he'll just throw me away when and if he gets bored of me?' I thought. I then heard squealing which broke my train of thought and made me look back at the crowd of girls surrounding Pietro. "Who are they?" I asked pointing at the girls. "Is that his fan club or something?"

"Actually, yeah. Those are the cheerleaders. They like totally love Pietro!" Kitty chuckled. "And Misty there is captain of the squad and president of the fan club."

'Oh those are the cheerleaders! Maybe they could use my assistance especially with that chick as captain,' I thought.

"Oh, I've met Misty already. That bitch had the nerve to threaten me because Pietro was talking to me and not her," I said annoyed at the memory.

"She threatened you?" Kitty asked shocked. "Why would she do that?"

"I guess she sees me as a threat," I said. "She's just lucky I didn't decide to put her wannabe Malibu Barbie ass in a coma. I don't take threats very lightly. Besides, from what I've seen Pietro doesn't even like her. He can't even remember her name," I said as I began to laugh. "He keeps calling her 'Mandy.'

"Are you serious?" Kitty asked laughing.

"Dead serious," I replied laughing harder than before.

"Wait, why were you talking to Maximoff in the first place?" Evan asked.

"I, uh-," I started but my sentence was luckily cut short when I heard a loud whistle sound. I turned my attention toward a tall and muscular, woman in blue sweats. She looked around the gym and narrowed her eyes when she looked at me. "Purple dress!" she yelled in a booming voice. She waved me down and as she saw me coming she shook her head and said "You're new here, aint ya?" she asked. In reply, I nodded my head.

"My names Coach Stone," she said before eyeing my outfit up and down. "You don't have the proper attire to participate in today's activity so you can sit this one out. But just for today, understood?"

"Yes mam, I understand you loud and clear," I replied in a confident voice. I'm not easily intimidated by teachers but she was almost as scary as Sergeant Hawk but I refuse to look scared of her especially on my first day.

"Tomorrow bring in a pair of black shorts, a white t-shirt and sneakers because we'll be doing some running around the track. I'll show you your gym locker tomorrow. Now go have a seat," she told me. "For the rest of you get changed and do four laps around the gym then you have free time. But I don't want to see cell phones, iPods or any electronics," she told the students as they headed toward the locker rooms to change. "Except for you, Maximoff. Get over here!" Coach Stone yelled. "Don't think I didn't notice you getting here late, your little groupies made sure of that. You're sitting today out with purple dress over there," she said pointing toward me.

"No problem, Coach," he said as he smirked at me. 'Great,' I thought sarcastically as he made his way toward where I was sitting on the bleachers. When he sat down next to me I asked "Why are you around me so much today?"

"You know you love it," he replied smugly.

"Sure I do. I would love it even more if you held me in your arms and squeezed me tightly," I said sarcastically while rolling my eyes at him.

"Okay," he shrugged before pulling me into a massive bear hug and resting his chin on the top of my head. 'Wow,' Pietro thought. 'Her hair feels so smooth and it smells like coconuts. Whoa! Where did that come from?'

'Mmm,' I thought as I melted into his strong arms. 'This is nice. I just love being in his arms.' For a split second I just wanted to stay there and breathe in his robust cologne but common sense kicked in and said 'Snap the hell out of it, Mina! You're supposed to be letting _him_ want _you_, remember? You can't just let him hug you like that!' Coming to my senses, I immediately but reluctantly pushed him off. "I was joking," I said.

"I knew that. I just wanted to see how long you would last in my arms before confessing your undying love for me," he said haughtily.

"Why would I tell you I love you; because you're cute?" I mocked.

"Well duh," he said. "I always get a beautiful girl like yourself to tell me they love me especially after the first date. Which, by the way, is Friday at 7:00 P.M. Wear something pretty, 'kay."

"Are you asking me or telling me?" I asked getting slightly angry. 'Who does this jackass think he is?' I thought.

"Does it matter? Either way you still get to go out with me," Pietro said. 'Is he serious?' I thought.

"Thanks, but no thanks. Here's a tip: if you want to win me over, dazzle me! Make me _want_ to go out with you instead of wanting to aim a cheap shot at your crotch for being such an ass," I said.

"Hey, I may be an ass, but I'm a sexy ass. You said so yourself," he smirked.

I leaned back so I could look behind him and said "Your ass is nice."

"Your ass is nice, too but-," he began to say.

"But what?" I inquired.

"But I think your face looks even better," Pietro finished while flashing a charming smile at me.

I laughed and said "Okay," I said holding my hands up in mock defeat. "That was charming. But you probably say to all the girls."

"Maybe, but you're different from the other girls aren't you?" he asked.

I faked a shocked look and said "What gave it away? Was it the fact that I'm not in your fan club or that I'm not afraid to challenge you?"

"Both," he replied.

"That was a rhetorical question, smart ass," I said.

"Well too bad. I answered it anyway," he countered. Just then the bell rang signaling the end of P.E. "Wow, I can't believe it's been an hour already. Hey, before you leave can you do me favor?"

"Depends on what it is," Pietro said crossing his arms with a raised eyebrow dawning his strong face.

"Can you be a gentlemen and help me carry my books to my locker?" I asked in a sugar sweet tone while batting my eyelashes.

"Hmm, I don't know; I'm pretty busy. You know, being god's gift to the female-," he began to say until I hit him in the arm. "Okay, okay," he said defeated while rubbing his arm. "No need to get violent, jeez." He picked up my textbooks with ease and asked "Where's your locker?" as we stepped into the hallway.

"I don't know," I answered sheepishly.

"How do you not know?" he snapped.

"Well excuse me! I got my schedule this morning and haven't had much spare time to actually find it," I snapped back. "All I know is that it's locker #174."

His face immediately lit up before turning into an arrogant smirk. "What are you smirking about?" I asked suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing," he replied while trying to hold back a chuckle. "I know where your locker is."

We turned a few hallway corners before he said "Here it is." I reached into my bag and pulled out the locker combination that Principal Darkholme gave me. I opened up my small locker and saw nothing but air and empty space. 'Nothing I can't turn into something pretty,' I thought. Pietro handed me my books and I immediately shoved those two big blocks in there with no second thought. I closed my locker and spun the combination wheel to prevent my locker from being opened by intruders before hearing a locker open up right next to me.

"You gotta be kidding me," I said in disbelief as I saw Pietro open the locker directly next to me.

"Hey, locker neighbor," he smiled at me before pulling a 5 dollar bill out of his leather wallet and shoving it into his jean pocket.

"I'm never gonna escape you, am I?" I asked exasperatedly.

"Hmm, let me think about that. Nope!" he replied before closing his locker and leaning against it. "Why are you resisting me anyway? Any girl in this school would kill to be in your shoes!" Just then a group of giggling girls walked by and all said "Hi, Pietro."

"Hello, ladies," Pietro replied as they giggled even more. When they left he said "See what I mean."

"Well, like I said before, I'm not any girl," I replied. "And your charm doesn't affect me."

"Not yet it doesn't. But wait and see, Mina. No girl in the world can resist the Maximoff charm," he said. "I'm going to win you over because I have the perfect way to do it."

I laughed and said "Oh really? I could read your mind to see what it was but I want to be surprised. Besides, I don't read peoples mind without permission; unless I don't like them, of course."

"So that must mean you like me, huh?" Pietro asked.

"Maybe I do like you, but you're smart and can figure it out for yourself," I countered.

"I think you do. After all, I did save your life," he stated.

The late bell rang and the remaining students cleared the hallways,leaving just me and Pietro. "That reminds me, I never did get to thank you for that," I said leaning closer to him.

"What kind of thanks are we talking about?" he said following my lead and leaning in as well. Our lips almost touched but I quickly shifted and pulled him into a hug. I felt him get slightly disappointed but it turned into faint happiness as he returned the tight embrace. We stayed like this for a while until I sensed someone familiar coming. I immediately pushed him off of me and said "Evan's coming. You should go. I don't think he and the X-Men would appreciate me talking to you."

"I'm not afraid of Daniels or the X-Geeks, but since you're practically begging I'll go," he said winking before quickly speeding off. 'Jackass,' I thought as I turned to see Evan coming toward me.

"What are you doing out here by yourself?" he asked.

"I was just putting some stuff in my locker," I answered.

"Kitty and I didn't know where you went after gym, so I came looking for you. Come on, it's lunch time," Evan said.

"Lead the way," I said while following Evan to the cafeteria. We entered through the double doors and I was hit with a variety of smells. I then heard my stomach growl and immediately asked "Okay, well what's for lunch?"

"Come see for yourself," Evan answered.

We walked toward the line and saw an assortment of what I assumed was food. There were giant piles of green, brown and red goo that didn't even look remotely edible. I scrunched my nose up in disgust and as soon as Evan caught sight of the look on my face, he laughed.

"What in the hell is so funny?" I asked seriously. "I aint eating this."

"You could or you could get a sandwich or salad," he said pointing to the salad bar behind him.

"Right," I said stepping out of the line and immediately rushing into the line for the salad bar. I got a turkey and cheese sandwich and sat down with the rest of the X-Men.

"Hey y'all," I greeted.

"Hey, Mina," Kurt said with a mouth full of food. "How's your first day of school, so far?"

"Good," I replied before taking a bite of my sandwich.

"Anyone from the Brotherhood give you any trouble?" Scott asked in a big brother voice.

"If you count Pietro being in almost if my classes 'trouble'. Other than that, nothing I can't handle myself," I replied looking at the Brotherhood table.

"Did anyone give you a hard time for being the new girl?" Evan asked.

"Just one," I replied nonchalantly.

"Who?" Jean asked.

"Attention everyone!" I heard a perky voice say. I turned around to see none other than Misty standing on a table surrounded by the rest of the cheerleaders.

"Her," I said as I rolled my eyes.

"Because Sarah transferred out of the school last week, there is spot open for a new tumbler on the cheerleading squad. Tryouts are after school tomorrow and you must already have a choreographed routine set to music displaying your dancing and tumbling. If anyone would like to tryout, come on up and put your name on the sign-up sheet!" Misty said in an overly forced happy voice.

"Hey, Mina. You should-," Kitty began to say until I got up and said "Way ahead of you." Me along with about 23 other hopeful girls stood up and made our way toward the cheerleaders. 'They have no chance,' I thought with a smirk. 'That spot is mine.'

As soon as I got close enough, Misty began to glare at me before saying "Well, what do you know girls? Looks like the newbie wants tryout."

"So what if I do? Are you afraid I might steal the spotlight from you and your sock stuffed bra?" Laughs were heard around us as Misty turned a bright red out of anger and embarrassment. I smirked as I grabbed the sign-up sheet right out of her perfectly manicured hands and neatly scribbled my name across the top.

"Your one to talk about fake, new girl," she retorted.

"And what's that supposed to mean," I asked defensively.

"Isn't it illegal to have that much fake hair?" Misty replied as she tossed her blonde locks over her shoulder.

"First of all, my hairs real and second of all, you have one more time to either threaten or insult me before I do something I might regret," I said with no emotion in my voice. "I'll see you at tryouts, 'Mandy'," was the last thing I said before forcefully shoving the clipboard back in her hands and making my way back to where I was sitting.

"Wow, Mina. You're like the first person to ever stand up to Misty! Not even the other cheerleaders are brave enough to do that," Kitty said amazed.

"You really shouldn't pick fights like that, Mina," Jean said in a warning tone.

"She started it _and_ she had it coming," I simply replied before finishing my sandwich. "She had no right to insult me."

"Yeah, but you should've walked away instead of giving her the satisfaction of replying," Jean said.

"Don't worry, Jeannie," I teased. "I got the situation under control."

"Well if you need help, the X-Men always have your back," said Scott.

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind," I said before wiping my mouth and reapplying my lip gloss. "What classes do y'all have next?"

"We all have Acting 1 next," Scott answered.

"Me too," I said before the bell rang meaning lunch was over. "Well, we should go." Everyone got up and headed toward acting class. I followed them closely and when I walked into the theater and was impressed. There was a huge stage with two stairs leading to it on both sides, beautiful red velvet curtains, and a bright lighting system. We all took seats close to the front and waited for class to start.

"Crap!" I said loudly. I had just sensed four very familiar minds coming toward us and the word 'trouble' was basically on the tip of my tongue. 'This aint gonna be pretty,' I thought.

"Vhat's wrong, Mina?" Kurt asked.

"Turn around and you'll see in about 23 seconds," I said as they made their way closer and closer to the theater. Everyone turned around and all had different reactions on their faces. Scott and Evan narrowed their eyes in anger, Kurt and Kitty looked annoyed and Rogue and Jean looked like it was no big deal.

"How did you sense them coming?" Jean asked. "I can't even do that, yet."

"My telepathy can hone in on people's minds, so I can tell how far or close they are from me," I responded. "I can't tell who the person is, unless I've come in contact with them before. But I can lead a person to me with my telepathy, so it's a good-bad type of power, and it's useful in certain situations."

When the Brotherhood made their way to the front of theater where we were, Scott stood up and said "What're you losers doing here? I thought you had wood shop."

They all laughed and Todd said "We got kicked out, yo. Said we couldn't come back, so they put us in here."

"How do you get kicked out of wood shop?" Scott asked.

"Let's just say there was a electric saw and a hand involved and leave it at that," Lance answered. He looked at me and said "I see the newest x-geek has this class, too."

"Uh, last time I checked I do have a name. It's Mina, so use it," I said hostilely.

"Whatever," he said dismissively as I narrowed my eyes at him.

Just then a tall, thin man with wire-rimmed glasses came in and said "Settle down, students. Okay class, today we have five new students. Give a big theater welcome to Lance, Fred, Pietro, Todd and Semina." Everyone raised their hands and did theater hands*.

"This week, were going to pay tribute to the great William Shakespeare by doing some scenes from his famous plays. So to get started, today I'm pairing the new students with the older, more experienced students. Lance you're with Ms. Pryde, Fred you're with Ms. Grey, Pietro you're with Rogue, Todd you're with Mr. Daniels and Semina you're with Mr. Summers. The rest of you may pick your own partners and begin rehearsing." Groans of dissatisfaction were heard from both the X-Men and the Brotherhood, but mostly from the Brotherhood. Do they really hate us that much?

"Well," I began to say as I stood up. "We better get to it. Can you get the scripts, Scott?"

He nodded as he stood up and got two thick books from Mr. Santos. We started walking toward the back of the theater when I felt 3 strong sources of jealously coming from Jean, Pietro and Rogue. I winced and thought 'Okay. Why would they be jealous?' I snuck a quick glance back at them and raised an eyebrow. Each of them had a look if pure envy on their faces. Weird.

I took a look at the script I had received and saw that Scott and I had gotten the scene from "A Midsummer Night's Dream," where Demetrius is refusing Helena as his true love. After rehearsing the lines and blocking* the scene for about 30 minutes, Mr. Santos called us down and asked us to go first. 'Great,' I thought. I always hated being called first in class because my nerves tend to get in the way.

"I want to see theater etiquette, people," Mr. Santos said. "No talking or noise of any kind while my young actors and actresses are on stage. And when you finish your lines please say 'Scene.' You may begin." I got up on stage looked around the theater slightly nervous but trying my best to cover it up. I then turned to Scott and he started the scene.

"Tempt not too much the hatred of my spirit, for I am sick when I do look on thee," Scott said.

"And I am sick when I look not on you," I said while reaching out to grab his hands. I licked my lips because in actuality, my mouth was going dry, my heartbeat was increasing and my hands were slightly shaking and I was praying Scott didn't notice.

"You do impeach your modesty too much. To leave the city and commit yourself into the hands of one that loves you not. To trust the opportunity of night and the ill counsel of a desert place with the rich worth of your virginity," Scott challenged as he inched closer to me.

"Your virtue is my privilege. For that it is not night when I do see your face, therefore I think I am not in the night nor doth this wood lack worlds of company. For you in my respect are all the world. Then how can it be said I am alone, when all the world is here to look on me?" I countered.

Scott forcefully dropped my hands and said "I'll run from thee and hide me in the brakes and leave thee to the mercy of wild beasts."

"The wildest hath not such a heart as you. Run when you will, the story shall be changed. Apollo flies and Daphne holds the chase, the dove pursues the griffin, the mild hind makes speed to catch the tiger, bootless speed, when cowardice pursues and valour flies," I said.

"I will not stay thy questions. Let me go or if thou follow me, do not believe, but I shall do thee mischief in the wood," Scott retorted just as angrily as he pointed a finger in my face.

"Ay, in the temple, in the town, the field, you do me mischief. Fie, Demetrius! Your wrongs do set a scandal on my sex. We cannot fight for love, as men may do. We should be wood and were not made to woo," I said angrily. Scott looked at me before turning his back and exiting stage right. I watched him walk away and yelled "I'll follow thee and make a heaven of hell to die upon the hand I love so well."

I looked at the audience and waited for someone to say or do something before remembering something Mr. Santos had said earlier. "Oh, yeah. Scene," I said. I heard generous applause and looked at the audience to see people looked impressed, including Pietro. Not that I specifically looked at him to see if he liked it or not, I was just glancing. I don't care what he thinks of me.

'Right, keep telling yourself that,' I heard a familiar but faint voice in my head smugly say. '_I_ know that _you_ know you like him, so stop being so damn stubborn and difficult and just admit it!' I quickly shooed away the voice but made a mental note to deal with it later and looked at Mr. Santos for some feedback but he just looked at me. I unsurely said "D-did I do something wrong?"

"No. You were simply wonderful," Mr. Santos said, clapping. "I could almost feel the unrequited love between you two."

"Uh, thank you," I said breathing a sigh of relief as Scott and I walked down the stage and went back to our seats.

"Great job, Scott," I complimented.

"Thanks. You were great too," he responded.

I almost got to my seat before Mr. Santos waved me over and said "Great scene for your first day, but next time don't be so nervous when you get on stage. You have some talent, so don't be afraid to embrace it."

"Wow. Okay, thanks," I replied.

"Good job, Mina," Kurt said. "I give it two thumbs up."

"Yeah, that was like totally great," Kitty gushed.

"Thanks," I said smiling. "But on the real, I pulled that one outta my ass. I'm not sure if y'all noticed or not, but I was terrified up there! I hate being first to do things because it scares the crap outta me."

"But you weren't that bad," Evan said. "Right, Jean?"

"Yeah," Jean said sourly. "You were okay."

"What did you think, Rogue?" I asked disregarding Jean's tone.

"You were fine," Rogue replied a little angrily.

'What the hell did I do?' I thought, confused. Then it hit me. "OH! They must both have a thing for Scott. No wonder why they were so jealous earlier.'

Our scene took about 3 minutes so after me and Scott went up, Mr. Santos called Evan and Toad who's scene would have been good if Evan wouldn't have taken a ten second pause between every line and if Toad hadn't said 'yo' at the end of every sentence. Then he called Fred and Jean whose scene was a complete and utter train wreck because Fred didn't remember one single line and kept saying 'um'. After them came Rogue and Pietro who did as good a job as me and Scott. I could honestly say I was both impressed and the slightest bit jealous. The last group to go up was Kitty and Lance and I was blown away. Their balcony scene from 'Romeo and Juliet' was absolutely beautiful. As an empath, I felt a little chemistry between the two whether they wanted to admit it or not. No wonder why Lance was looking at Kitty like that during P.E.

Class was almost over so Mr. Santos said "Looks like the bell is due to ring any second, so we'll get the rest of you done tomorrow." The bell rang and all the students got up and walked toward our next class, which for me and Rogue was French 2. But first I had to get my bag out of my locker. After I quickly retrieved it, Rogue and I continued down the hallway and I asked "So how hard is this class?"

"Not very hard but tha teacher is a pain in tha ass," Rogue replied.

"Sounds like we aint gonna get along then. Pain in the asses are pains in _my_ ass," I laughed as me and Rogue entered the classroom. I took a seat next to Rogue and calmly waited for the class to start. I looked around and saw the teacher who was a fairly old woman with brown hair in a twisted bun sitting in the desk at the front of the class. The late bell rang and I looked around to notice a certain snow haired boy was nowhere to be found. 'Yes!' I exclaimed in my mind. I finally had at least one class without him and I was happy and, as much as I hate to admit it, a little disappointed. The woman sitting at the front of the class got up and wrote the words 'POP QUIZ' on the board. My eyes bugged straight out of my head and my hand immediately shot in the air and I said "Uh, Miss I-"

"My name is Mademoiselle Galon," she rudely interrupted.

"Right, Mademoiselle Galon, it's my first day here so is there any way I could, you know, be exempted from the quiz?" I asked hoping she would say 'yes'.

"No. What kind of teacher would I be if exempted you from a pop quiz that everyone else has to take as well?" she told me.

"But I don't know the material so how am I supposed to know what I'm doing?" I challenged.

"Just do your best and I'm sure you'll do fine," Mademoiselle Galon said.

"I didn't take French I so it doesn't matter how hard I try, I'm still not going to get anything right so can I just be excused from the test? It's plain and simple," I said getting really irritated with this lady. I rubbed my temple because I already feel a headache coming on.

"No. There's no special treatment for new students in my class so just attempt the quiz and see how you do," she continued.

"But-," I began to argue before she forcefully said "And I don't to hear another word about it. Just do it." She slapped a sheet of paper on my desk. I looked at Rogue with a face that said 'I know this bitch aint slamming shit on my desk.' I took one look at the quiz before I pushed the paper to the furthest corner of my desk and put my head on the desk wanting to catch a quick nap.

"Excuse me, young lady-"Mademoiselle Galon began to say before I interrupted by saying "My name's Semina Wilson."

"Ms. Wilson," she continued. "There's no sleeping in my class. Either attempt the quiz or you can leave my class and serve a detention after school."

"Fine by me," I said as I gathered my stuff. "I'll take the detention."

I stood up went to her desk to receive my detention slip and left the class fuming in pure rage. Not knowing where to go I headed to my car to try to calm myself down. I unlocked the door and slammed it after I got into the driver's seat. I was trying my hardest to not scream in anger and frustration so I grabbed my iPod and played my most soothing songs. The songs helped a little bit but then my head started throbbing so I massaged my temples to soothe the pain but it didn't work and once again the loose objects in my car started floating.

"Ugh," I said, frustrated. "When is this going to stop?" I tried focusing on the pain to make it stop but the more I tried the harder my head pounded and on top of that the objects in my car weren't just floating anymore they were starting to spin around. I then remembered something Aunt Viv used to tell me when I got a headache associated with my powers. 'Never let you powers control you because you're _always_ in control.' "I'm always in control," I said as I repeated her words in my head over and over again until the pain started slowly dissipated. I looked around my car and saw the objects staring to drop back into place.

"Why haven't I got this under control yet," I whined as I put my head on the steering wheel. Realizing that whining and complaining about my lack of control was getting me nowhere I decided to take out my phone and give a quick call to the one person who knew me better than anyone; my older sister, LaToya.

After about three rings she picked up the phone and yelled "Hey, Mina!"

"Hey, Toya!" I yelled back into the phone. "How are things back in the VA?"

"Same as always," she asked. "How's life in the big city?"

"Well," I began. "I went camping, met a cute boy, battled a dangerous mutant and just got kicked outta class, so tamer than I thought it would be."

"WHOA!" she yelled. "Can you repeat that?"

Already knowing what she meant I said "I met a cute boy. And girl let me tell you, he is fine as hell. His name's Pietro and he's just so, so ugh! There aint even a word to describe him! He's got these blue eyes that look like they can stare right into your soul and this white hair that looks like the snow at Christmas time."

"White hair?" LaToya questioned. "Is he old?"

"Naw, that's the thing," I said. "He's my age and I think his hair's white 'cause of his powers."

"He's a mutant too!" LaToya screamed. "Girl, you better snatch him up! It's hard enough finding a cute boy let alone a cute, mutant boy. You got powers, he got powers; he's practically made for you! And it sounds like you already like him."

"Yeah, too bad he's a big a player as Devon was," I said rolling my eyes at the memory of my ex-boyfriend. "I just can't deal with one of those again."

"You always did go for the bad boys and the players," LaToya said.

"And you always went for the funny class clown guys," I said. "And speaking of funny guys there's this dude here that I think is perfect for you. His name's Kurt and he's just the funniest and the sweetest guy you'll ever meet. I'll introduce y'all sometime."

"I don't need my little sister hooking me up with anybody," LaToya said offended.

"We were born the same year, stupid," I said with a laugh.

"Yea, but I'm older," LaToya replied.

"Wow," I said with feigned shock. "By like ten months, what a huge difference."

"Yes it is!"she replied. "I'm seventeen now and your still sixteen so in your face, Mini Mi."

Just then I heard the bell ring and said "Dang, that's the bell. I'll call you on ooVoo you when I get back to the institute. Tell mom, dad and Tony I said 'Hey'."

"Okay. Bye, Mina," LaToya said.

"Bye Toya," I said before hanging up.

After putting my phone in my bag, I noticed my headache was completely gone and my mood was slightly better. Talking to my sister always lifts my bad spirits. After exiting and locking my car, I headed toward my last class of the day: Pre-Calculus. I got in the class and sat down in the middle of the class. For me math is a subject that's easy but hard at the same time, so I need to sit close enough to learn something. I may be good in school but I'm far from being a genius. I put my head in my hands and looked at the board only to see a trigonometric equation on it. While I was trying to solve it in my head, I failed to see Rogue and Pietro come in the class and each take a desk close to me; Rogue in front of me and Pietro behind me. I had just finished the equation when the bell rang and brought me back to the real world.

"Ay, when did you get here, Rogue?" I asked as I finally took note of her presence as well as the rest of the students who were talking loudly.

"I got here before the bell rang," she replied. "You looked zoned out and I didn't want to bother you."

"Oh," I said. "I was just solving the problem on the board."

"What took you so long?" Pietro said from behind me. "I already know the answer."

"Not everyone has super speed, quicky," I said as I smirked at him.

"Yeah, only the lucky and handsome ones," he replied smugly. "Like yours truly."

"Well, only the astonishingly beautiful are hydrokinetics," I smirked at him.

"Oh, really? It must be true then because you're just gorgeous," Pietro said as he raised my left hand and kissed it gently. While getting lost in his hypnotic eyes, I had momentarily lost my strong will power and giggled slightly as I blushed a reddish hue before snapping out of his charm. I quickly yanked my hand back and turned around in my desk only to come face to face with Rogue who had an amused smirk on her face.

"What's with the face?" I questioned.

"Oh, nothing," Rogue replied in a sing-song voice before turning around herself and chuckling.

"Settle down, class," Mrs. Holder yelled over the students. Upon hearing her voice the students' noise level gradually decreased. "I have to take attendance." She called everyone name's and took note their presence in her laptop. However she called everyone's name but mine.

I raised my hand and said "Uh, excuse me, Mrs. Holder. You didn't call my name."

"What's your name?" she asked me. After I told her my name she looked intensively at the screen for a moment before exclaiming "Aha! Semina Wilson, right there at the very bottom. I'm sorry I missed your name. Now students, on to today's lesson. We will learning about right triangle trigonometric equations. Take out a sheet of paper to copy downs some notes because this will be on your final exam." Groans of agony were heard around the classroom at the mention of the final exam. Although I wasn't here for the first semester, back in Virginia, my class was already ahead of the trigonometry unit so I'm figuring that the final exam won't be so difficult. After taking down the notes Mrs. Holder had written on the board and getting a worksheet with the material on it for homework, the bell finally rung signaling the end of the last class of the day. Pietro and the other students sped out of class but Rogue and I just casually walked out of the room.

"Hey, Mina?" Rogue said getting my attention. "Do you think I can get a ride home with you? It's getting real crowded in Scott's car."

"Sure thing," I replied. "As long as you don't mind waiting around until detentions over."

"No problem, at least I wouldn't have to be scrunched against Kurt and Evan anymore," she replied. "I just got this awesome werewolf book and I figured I could occupy myself by reading it. I'll meet you by the exit when it's finished."

"Okay. Meet you there at 4 P.M." I said before walking down the opposite hallway toward the detention room.

*Theater Hands- Waving your hands instead of actually clapping.

*Blocking- Setting movements to a scene.

A/N: So how did you like it? Click the cute little review button below and tell me! Mina faces detention in the next chapter along with a few other surprises. ;-)


	6. Detention, the Danger Room & Tryouts

A/N: To all my readers, I'm sorry that my character is so Mary Sue-ish. It's just that this is my first fan fiction story and I'm new to this. Y'all can help me improve Mina just by giving me some _**FRIENDLY**_ advice and pointers for a good character. Over the next few chappies, I'll be putting her flaws and weaknesses just give me some time. Thanks for all the love & positive reviews, though (except Another Name Another Guy; you're just mean. But hey, I can't stop you from having an opinion.) Here's the new chappie. ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution, play rights or any song used in this story so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

Detention, the Danger Room and Cheerleading Tryouts

After Pre-Cal ended, I dragged my feet all the way to hell better known as detention. Back in the day when I used to get detention it was absolute torture! I had to sit in a hard plastic desk, that always made my ass sore, for an hour and all there was to do was stare at the clock while the stupid supervisor played outdated country music. And I absolutely **hate **country music. I'm expecting detention to be much worse here, especially with Mystique as principal. Due to my short and sometimes wild and explosive temper, detention was basically an after school club for me in middle school. But since those days, I've learned to calm down and be just a tad bit more patient but given the situation and the person, my temper _always _manages to get the better of me. As reached my destination, I looked at door that had the word 'DETENTION' spray painted in all capital letters. I sighed heavily before twisting the knob and entering through the threshold to utter boredom. After hearing the door open, the four people of detention looked up in shock and surprise to see who just came through the door. The first thing I saw, wait scratch that, the first thing I _smelled_ was Toad. I wrinkled my nose in disgust as I walked in and gave my detention slip to Principal Darkholme.

"Well, this is a surprise," Principal Darkholme said with a raised eyebrow. "I never expected one of Xavier's young charges to have detention, especially on their first day of school. Take a seat anywhere."

As I took a seat closest to the door, I heard Lance ask me "What're you doing here, x-geek?"

I turned around and said "What the hell does it look like? I got detention. And for the last time, my name is Mina."

"Well, I can see that," Lance replied. "I'm asking why you're here."

"My French teacher was bugging so I threw up a deuce and dipped," I replied, irritated. I laughed as I saw the confused look on their faces. "My bad. That was Mina speak for: my French teacher pissed me off so I walked outta class."

"Oh!" they all said in unison.

"But you're an x-geek, yo," Toad said.

"So," I replied in a tone that asked 'And your point is?'

"Aren't you supposed to be a goody-goody like the rest of them?" Fred asked. I had to laugh at that one.

"Who do you think I am?" I asked still laughing. "Jean?"

"Then why'd you join the X-Men if you're not a goody-goody?" Lance asked.

"I have my reasons," I said nonchalantly.

"What are they?" Toad asked.

"I'd rather not say," I said.

"Why not?" Lance asked.

"Yeah, why not?" Toad and Fred asked as well.

"Because it's my damn business so just drop it!" I yelled forcefully. My telekinesis caused a nearby desk to fly up and crash into a wall. They jumped up in surprise as I turned back around and rubbed my temples. I could already feel another headache coming on. The rest of detention went on in silence until Principal Darkholme said "Detentions over. You may leave."

I quickly gathered my stuff and ran out the door toward my car. The Brotherhood had tried to leave too, but Mystique blocked the door and said "Did you see that? Young Ms. Wilson has a tremendous power lurking within her and it seems that she's keeping a few secrets from everyone. I want you four to figure out what it is and try to get her on our side."

"But-," they tried to protest.

"Just do it!" Mystique yelled as she unblocked the pathway and pointed toward the door.

Halfway down the hallway, I had stopped running and began to walk. I saw Rogue waiting for me at the exit but stopped in my tracks when I realized I had to get my heavy textbooks out of my locker. I groaned and yelled "Hey, Rogue! Can you come with me to my locker? I need to go get my books."

"Sure thing," Rogue yelled back. We turned a few hallway corners and as I walked up to my locker I saw none other than Misty leaning on it while talking to Pietro. She was in her gym clothes so I guessed she just came from cheerleading practice. I inwardly groaned and tried to not to lose my _very _short temper, I walked up to my locker and asked as politely as possible "Could you move so I can get my books, please?" Despite the please I put in at the end, Misty just looked at me and continued flirting with Pietro.

"Can you please move?" I repeated. Once again she just looked at me before getting back into Pietro's face.

"Pietro," I said through clenched teeth with a dangerous look in my eye "You better get your girl before I do. I'm already having a shitty day and I don't need her to make it worse."

Looking at my expression and seeing that I wasn't someone whose patience you didn't want to test especially after what happened in detention, he quickly said "Okay, okay, just calm down. Hey, Mandy, could you move so Mina can get her stuff?"

"My name's Misty and why should I?" Misty answered defiantly.

"I don't think you want to find out," he replied as my glare hardened. Misty didn't seem to notice the lockers starting to slightly rattle.

"I'm not moving, especially for this newbie," Misty spat. I was literally ten seconds from lashing out at this trick, so I sent a telepathic message to Rogue.

(What's the rule for using your powers on humans?) I asked Rogue.

(We shouldn't use them unless there's an extreme emergency), she replied.

(Well this is one), I told her as I put two fingers to my temple and temporarily took over Misty's mind. (You will move away from my locker.)

"I will move away from your locker," Misty said robotically as she unblocked the path to my locker. And just for fun I added (Now you will break off your date with Pietro on Saturday.)

"I will break off my date with Pietro Saturday," she said in a monotone. She turned to Pietro and said "Sorry Pietro, I'm cancelling our date on Saturday."

Pietro just looked at her then at me with a look of pure disbelief and shock. (You will forget what just happened and go home), I telepathically said before breaking my control over her.

Misty walked away while saying "I will forget what happened and go home." I smirked triumphantly as I opened my locker and got my books. "Come on, Rogue. I'm ready to leave." We started walking down the hallway, but Pietro sped in front of me and blocked my path.

"Go to home, Roguey. I need to talk to Mina," Pietro said before glaring at me. "Alone."

Rogue started to protest but I cut in and said "Go ahead. I can deal with him. This aint gonna take long so just wait by my car and I'll be there soon." Although Rogue looked like she wanted to stay she left anyway. "What can I help you with?" I asked Pietro.

"What the hell was that?" he yelled angrily. "Why did you do that?"

"What do you mean?" I asked playing dumb.

"You know what I mean," Pietro said accusingly. "Why'd you make her do that?"

"She was in my way, so I moved her," I answered plainly.

"Not that!" Pietro said exasperatedly. "I mean about my date with her."

"Oh, that!" I exclaimed in fake realization. "Let's just say, I don't think she's your type and on top of that she aint even that pretty."

"Oh!" Pietro exclaimed. "You're jealous of her aren't you?"

I scoffed and said "Please, I aint jealous of her. I just don't like her." I tried to walk away to get to my car but Pietro sped in front of me again and said "Admit it! You _do_ like me, don't you?"

A faint blush threatened to creep onto my cheeks but I turned my head and I said "No and I need to get home."

I tried to head toward the exit, but Pietro pinned me against a set of lockers with his body and softly whispered in my ear "I know you like me, so just say it. I won't tell anyone."

I turned my head away from his gaze because as much as I tried to resist my cheeks were basically burning red. His body being so close to mine was causing my heart rate to rapidly increase, my face flushed with heat and, for the first time ever, Semina Wilson was at a loss for words. 'What the hell is going on?' I thought. I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out. I suddenly hear a voice say "Back off, Maximoff!" Pietro and I both turned our heads to see Evan and Scott standing there with a look of pure anger on their faces. 'What are they doing here?' I thought irritated.

"What do you want, Daniels?" Pietro asked, annoyed. "Can't you see I'm a little busy here?"

"You wanna go ahead and let her go, Maximoff," Scott said as reached for his glasses.

"Please," Pietro said as he turned toward them. "I can take the both of you on myself."

"I'd like to see you try, Maximoff," Evan replied as he sprouted bone spikes all over his back, arms and chest. "Don't you remember what happened last time?"

Pietro glared angrily at him and Evan managed to match his anger. They started to argue while Scott tried to make them stop. On top of my rising headache, their anger was making the pain in my head much worse. I dropped to my knees and clutched my head. Pietro and Evan were too busy arguing to even notice my pain.

"Guys," I struggled to squeak out. "Stop it." My voice was low so they didn't even hear me. "Stop it, stop it, stop it," I continued to say in a low voice until I forcefully yelled "STOP IT!" I unintentionally released a burst of telekinetic energy that sent them flying toward a nearby set of lockers. I couldn't take anymore of their bullshit so I grabbed my things and ran toward my car once again. Rogue saw me running toward her and asked "Are you okay? I heard a crash."

"I'm fine, Rogue," I replied as I handed her my keys. My head hurts too much for me to focus on driving so I asked her to drive us home. As Rogue and I got into my car, she immediately started the car and peeled out of the parking lot. We drove along in silence until we got to the mansion. Rogue parked my Camaro in the garage and I slammed the door as I ran toward the mansion. I ignored the questions and 'Hi's' I received and didn't stop running until I got to my room. After entering my room and locking the door behind me, I went into my bathroom locked the door and sank to the floor. I pulled my legs up to my chest and put my head between them. Between what happened in French class, detention, Pietro and what just happened and my mind was clouded and beyond fucked up. I was close to hyperventilating and my emotions were running wild. Random bottles of shampoo and soap were floating but I paid no attention to them. My thinking was abruptly interrupted by a message from the professor.

(X-Men, get suited up and meet in the danger room. It's time for your training session.) I must have sat on the floor for at least thirty minutes if it was already time to train.

I groaned and rubbed my temples. Training was the last thing on my mind that I wanted to do. I still had that massive headache from before but I knew I had to keep my focus for whatever this training session had in store. I picked myself off of the floor, washed my makeup off and headed toward my closet. I put on my X-Men suit and tied my hair in a low ponytail. I figured I was probably gonna need water for this training session so I went back into the bathroom to get some. I turned on the faucet and filled the sink to the brim with water. I brought the water out of the sink with my powers then refilled the sink for even more water. I brought all of the gathered water toward me and froze a water ring around my waist. I exited my room and trudged toward Rogue and Kitty's room down the hall. I lightly knocked on the door, leaned against the threshold and waited for someone to answer. After a few short moments, Kitty phased through the door and right threw me.

"AHH!" I yelped.

"Oh my gosh!" Kitty exclaimed. "I'm like so sorry, Mina."

I patted my front side down to make sure things were in order because I felt a little tingly. "Its fine, Kitty. You just took me by surprise. I'm not used to people walking through me, yet."

Rogue then walked out of the room and said "Trust me, it's gonna happen more than once so be prepared."

"So where are we training?" I inquired. 'Please don't say the Danger Room. Please don't say the Danger Room!' I chanted in my head. Any room with the word 'Danger' in front of it was something I felt I needed to avoid.

"The Danger room," Kitty replied.

'Damn it!' I yelled in my head. "Um, let's go then." We walked downstairs to where the other X-Men were waiting and got into the elevator that would lead us to the sub levels.

"Hey, Jean?" I said as the elevator dropped. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, go ahead," she replied.

"Why do y'all call it the 'Danger Room'?" I asked as the elevator arrived to it's destination.

"You'll see," Jean replied.

We walked into the same metal room we fought Juggernaut in and I also remembered that this was the first place Pietro held me in his arms and I tried my best to shoo that thought away but it kept resurfacing. We found Wolverine waiting for us and I heard groans all around at the sight of him.

"What's so bad about Wolverine?" I whispered to Rogue. "It aint like he's gonna shoot lasers at us during the session."

"Well-," Rogue began before Wolverine interrupted her.

"Stripes, sprinkler!" I snapped my head up at his forceful tone. "Do you have something you wanna share with the rest of us?"

We quickly shook our heads 'no'.

"Good," he growled. "Now in today's exercise we'll be going through a simple obstacle course around the Danger Room. You start here, go around the course and finish here. The simulation isn't over until everyone crosses this white end mark. Watch each others backs and keep an eye out for hazards." Wolverine exited the room and Cyclops told us to huddle up.

"Okay, team," Cyclops said. "Stick close and watch each others back." With that being said he turned toward the control center at the top of the Danger Room and gave a thumbs up.

"Let's go!" Cyclops said as the simulation started. The middle of the floor rose up about 25 feet making it impossible to simply cut across the Danger Room. We all ran forward and directly toward our first obstacle: mechanical tentacles. Two of the tentacles wrapped themselves around me and Rogue's waist and hoisted us high in the air while spinning us around.

"Ugh!" I yelled in frustration as I tried to pry the tentacle off of me only to find out it was no use. So I unfroze the ring of frozen water I had around my waist and made a water whip. After freezing the handle to get a good grip on it, I quickly brought the whip down on the tentacle that held me hostage and cut it clean in half. Me and along with the severed tentacle fell to the hard metal floor with a thud.

"Oof," I said as I hit the floor. I slowly got off the floor, water whip still in my hand, and reeled my hand back to get Rogue down but saw a red blast go by hit the metal tentacle that freed her.

"Oh. Well that works, too," I said as I rushed to Rogues side after she dropped. "You okay, Rogue?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Rogue replied. "Come on, we have to go!"

'Huh, this isn't so hard,' I thought as I replaced my water source around my waist. 'It's barely even a challenge. Damn it! Why'd I have to say "challenge!" It reminds me of Pietro when we were at Iron Back!'

Distracted by my thoughts I almost forgot I was in a training session until Spyke yelled "Tsunami, look out!" I then saw three large laser cannons pop out of the walls and floors and aim directly at me. I managed to successfully dodge the blasts without getting hit. Cyclops adjusted the power lever on his visor and destroyed a cannon with his red optic blast. Spyke sprouted bone spikes around his wrist, aimed them at the cannons and launched them. One of the spikes landed in the barrel and caused it to explode from the backed up pressure. The third cannon was taken out by Shadowcat who simply phased through it to short it out. After taking out the cannons we continued our trek around the Danger Room and faced a series of tall metal walls. Nightcrawler took Spykes arm teleported in front of the last wall, Jean levitated Cyclops and herself in the air and they flew over the walls and Rogue and Shadowcat phased through the walls to meet up with almost everyone else.

'Way to leave the me behind,' I bitterly thought with a sneer as I saw more cannons pop out of the wall and aim themselves at me. I turned my water whip into a large ice disk that I threw toward the cannons. I controlled the disk so that it would cut the barrels of the cannons and render them useless. After the broken cannons receded into the walls, buzz saw launchers emerged in it's place and least seven buzz saws were launched at me. I tried my best to avoid getting sliced and diced by doing flips and jumps to dodge them. I was doing fine until I failed to notice the buzz saw coming at me on my left (my weaker side) until it was too late. The ice disk I was controlling gave me a slight warning before it happened because there was a faint metallic glint being reflected off of it. Reflex kicked in and I tried to quickly move to the right but that buzz saw was Quicksilver fast and managed to graze my left arm.

'Fuck!' I mentally yelled as I grasped my deltoid muscle. The cut wasn't deep enough to cause any serious muscle injuries but it was bleeding and in searing pain. Despite the pain I was in, I just barely managed to take out that retched buzz saw launcher. Not wanting to wait around to be attacked by more cannons or buzz saws that would cause further bodily harm, I brought the ice disk in front of me and stepped onto it. I brought my hand upwards making the ice disk follow suit and floated on the disk which I used to hover over the metal walls to where the rest of the "team" was. The X-Men had made it to the end of the course and were ready to claim victory until they saw more laser cannons and buzz saws come out of the wall.

"I thought tha simulation was supposed to stop once we got to tha end," Rogue said as she dodge a buzz saw coming her way.

"Yeah," Jean remarked as she used a telekinetic shield the reflect a laser back at it's cannon. "What's going on?"

"Hey, where's Tsunami?" Spyke asked as he looked around. The rest of the X-Men looked around and slapped their foreheads.

"I like can't believe we forgot her!" Shadowcat groaned as she phased through a laser blast. "She's probably stuck in front of those metal walls."

"Nightcrawler," Cyclops began. "Find Tsunami and bring her back here.

"You got it," Nightcrawler said before teleporting away. A second later he reappeared and said "I couldn't find her."

"Then where is she?" Cyclops questioned.

After making it past all of the walls and dodging lasers and buzz saws, I hovered myself and the disk back down to the ground behind the rest of the X-Men and jumped off of it. "I'm right here," I said irritatedly as they turned to look at me then at my bleeding arm.

"Stop the simulation!" Cyclops yelled as the laser cannons and buzz saw launchers immediately powered down.

"Oh my gosh," Jean gasped. "Are you okay?" She reached out to touch my arm but I shrugged away from her touch.

"Yeah, Jean," I said lowly until I yelled "I'm peachy fucking keen! My damn arm is bleeding and you're asking if I'm okay! I would be okay if y'all wouldn't have abandoned me back there! I thought we were supposed to be a team!"

During my angry rant, unbeknownst to me, the cannons and launchers started to rattle and shake until they were completely and violently ripped of the metal walls by my telekinesis and flew toward the X-Men. The professor, Storm and Wolverine all quickly came in just in time to see the cannons being ripped from the walls. Cyclops shot an optic blast that destroyed one of the cannons and Wolverine extended his adamantium claws and cut up the launchers before they could hurt anyone.

"Semina, calm down!" Storm said. "You're going to hurt someone."

Her voice sounded distant I could barely hear her and the professor saw that so he telepathically said (You need to calm down, Semina! Vivian taught you better than this.)

As soon as I heard my aunt's name the cannons and launchers abruptly dropped to the metal floor. A single tear trickled down my cheek before I slid to the cold floor.

"We are like so sorry, Mina," Kitty said. "We didn't mean to leave you behind."

"It's just that we're not used to having another person to look out for yet," Evan said.

After snapping out of my daze, I looked at what I had just done in horror and quickly said "I'm sorry. I have to go."

"Semina wait!" Storm yelled after me but the professor stopped her before she could run after me.

"I thinks it's best if we let Semina have some time to herself," the professor said as he watched me disappear into the elevator.

I anxiously waited for the elevator to reach the mansion level before I sprinted toward my room and locked the door. I curled into a ball on the floor and cried my eyes out in physical pain, frustration, sadness and anger. Anger at the team for leaving me in the Danger Room, anger at Andre for not being here when I need him the most but most of all anger at myself for _being_ so angry. My mom used to always tell me that my anger was going to consume and kill me one day and I'm starting to think that she's right. After crying for fifteen minutes straight, I pulled myself off the floor and went to the bathroom. When I saw my reflection, I bursted out into laughter.

"Eww," I said laughing. "I look terrible!" Looking in the mirror I saw a runny nose, messy hair and two puffy red eyes. After laughing at myself I sighed before peeling off my X-Men suit and climbing into the shower. The cut I had sustained from that buzz saw was no longer bleeding but when the water hit it, it stung like lemon juice. I gathered some water from the running shower and formed a water glove over my hand. I held it up to my open wound and the water started glowing white as it began to heal it. I winced in pain as my wound closed shut and the cut healed. I held the water there for a minute until the pain had completely stopped.

'Ah!' I thought. 'That's so much better!' After thoroughly washing my body with soap and my favorite fluffy loofah, I stepped out of the shower refreshed and calm. After drying off and getting dressed in a pair of light blue shorts and a short-sleeved white collared shirt, I took my laptop from off of the nightstand next to my bed and logged onto to my ooVoo account. I tried contacting LaToya before I remembered that it was Monday and she had basketball practice.

'Oh well,' I thought. 'Might as well do my Pre-Cal homework the finish the rest of "Crank" before dinner.' I breezed through my homework and put on my iPod ear buds to finish reading my book. I was almost to the last chapter when the professor sent a telepathic message to everyone saying it was dinner time. I slipped on a pair of white thonged sandals and went downstairs. I realized that I haven't eaten anything since I got back from school and boy was I **starving**. I got to the dining room to see I was the first one there besides Storm who had prepared the meal. I took a seat close to the far end of the table and nervously waited for everyone to arrive. I toyed with the fork in front of me while the professor, Logan, Scott, Jean, Rogue, Kitty and Evan all came and took seats around me. Everyone was there except a certain fuzzy blue elf.

"Where's Kurt?" Kitty asked.

Just then Kurt appeared next to her and said "I'm right here. Did you miss me?"

"Eww," Kitty said. "As if."

"What's for dinner, Auntie O," Evan asked. 'Auntie?' I thought curiously.

"Roast chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy and mixed steamed vegetables," Ororo answered as she took the metal lids off the food.

"Sounds delicious, Ororo," Professor X said.

"And it smells even better!" Kurt said hungrily.

"Wait 'til you taste it," Ororo smiled. "Everyone take a piece of chicken you like and pass it around the table." They passed the plate of hot chicken around but they skipped Kitty.

"You guys skipped Kitty," I said as the plate reached me.

"Oh, I'm a vegetarian," Kitty told me.

"Oh!" I said in realization. "No wonder why you only eat salad and stuff."

"Yeah, no meat for me," Kitty said. "But these vegetables are delicious. Hey Storm what're these white pieces?"

"Cauliflower," Ororo replied as I immediately dropped my fork. "Semina, what's wrong?"

"I'm allergic to cauliflower," I said pushing my plate away. "Good thing I didn't take a bite yet."

"I'm sorry," Ororo said as she picked up my still full plate and changed it for a fresh one without any vegetables. "I didn't know."

"It's fine," I said. "And stop apologizing. If anyone should be apologizing it should be me. I did almost kill y'all in the Danger Room. Well not kill but cause some nasty damage but either way I am so so sorry. My anger loves to get the better of me."

"Well, Logan seems to have that same attribute," Storm said as Logan growled.

"It's all of our faults," Scott said. "We should've kept an eye out for you in there, especially on your first run."

"Yeah," Jean piped in. "You had a right to be angry. I'd be angry too if my arm got cut like that."

Ororo looked at my arm and asked "Do you need some help tending to your arm? It was a pretty bad cut."

"No need," I said. She looked confused for a moment before I continued "I already took care of it." I pulled my sleeve up to reveal that where the cut was before was completely healed.

"Incredible!" Storm remarked.

"Just call me Doctor Wilson," I smiled as I remembered the name Aunt Viv gave me when I learned how to heal.

"But how did you-?" Logan asked.

"I can heal any external wound with the water I control," I replied. "Burns, cuts, scars, bullet wounds just nothing internal though."

"You'll be a useful resource when we're out on missions," Scott said.

"Thanks," I said as I finished the rest of my chicken and potatoes. "So what do y'all do for fun around here?"

"Vell," Kurt began. "You could always try to beat me in 'Mortal Kombat.'"

"But that game doesn't come out until April of next year," I said.

"Zhe prof has connections," Kurt said. "So are you in?"

"Of course!" I said jumping out of my chair.

"Be warned, man," Evan said. "Kurt's the best in the house."

"Ooh," I said before following Kurt to the rec room. "That sounds like a challenge."

'Whoa,' Evan thought after I left with Kurt. 'She just sounded like Pietro.'

After Kurt beat me in 'Mortal Kombat', (it was a close game but I suck at video-games), Professor X called me to speak with him in his study. When I walked in the room, I saw the professor, Ororo and Logan, all with their serious faces on.

"Is this about what happened in French class?" I asked. "Because that lady-."

"No Semina," the professor interrupted. "This is about what happened in the Danger Room."

"Oh," I said.

"What happened in there tells me that your telekinesis is very closely linked to your emotions," the professor said.

"And that could prove to be most dangerous given the time and place," Ororo added.

"So to help control your telekinesis, you'll be attending extra sessions with Jean and I," the professor said.

I sighed and replied "Fair enough."

"And for your anger," Logan said. "You'll be having early morning sessions with me and Storm."

"Okay, sessions with Storm I can understand," I began. "But you? You're angrier than I am!"

"I am probably am," Logan began. "But you never see me fly of the handle like you do."

"True," I said. "Okay fine. I'll do these extra sessions and stuff, as long as I learn to control my telekinesis, I'll be fine."

"I'm glad to hear it, Semina," the professor said. "Now we have one more matter we have to discuss,"

"What's that?" I asked.

"What happened in French class," the professor said. "Principal Darkholme called and told me you were in detention today."

"Yeah, about that," I said inching toward the door. "How about I get dish duty for a week and we forget it ever happened."

"Alright," the professor chuckled. "But next time I won't be so lenient."

"Thanks professor!" I yelled as I bolted out of the door toward my room.

"It seems we have our work cut out for us," Ororo said.

"Indeed," the professor agreed. "But she's a good kid and I think she'll be just fine."

When I got back to my room, I packed my gym clothes and got ready for bed. I had a big day tomorrow with cheerleading tryouts and all. I didn't need to practice a routine for tryouts tomorrow because I figured I could just use one of my old routines from way back when.

'Man, it's been a long day! Hopefully by this time tomorrow,' I thought as I crawled into bed after changing into my nightgown. 'I'll be a Bayville Hawks cheerleader.'

The next day

I woke up extra early the next morning because before school started I had to see Principal Darkholme to ask if she could switch me out of that evil French class but, seeing as this was Mystique we're talking about, I wasn't holding my breath. After dealing with that secretary again, I stepped into Principal Darkholme's office an waited for her to come back from her early morning staff meeting. I fiddled with hem of my skirt before hearing the door open and seeing Principal Darkholme enter.

"Ah," Principal Darkholme said. "What brings you to my office, Ms. Wilson?"

"I need a schedule change," I replied. " I don't care what class you put me in as long as I don't have to stay in that French class anymore."

"Considerate it done," she said as she typed some things into the computer.

"Really?" I asked incredulously. 'Wow,' I thought. 'That was easy.'

The printer spat out my new schedule and Principal Darkholme said "Have fun in Auto Shop, Ms. Wilson."

"Auto shop?" I questioned as I got up and walked to the door. "Awesome!"

After my drama class, I went the school garage which is where my auto shop class was. I walked in and was faced with the smell of gasoline and motor oil.

'Ah,' I thought as I smelled the air. 'It's like being at home with dad. If I would've known I was getting this class I would've dressed more appropriately.' I looked down at my short jean skirt, long-sleeved black and hot pink v-neck shirt and matching Jordan's. 'Oh well.'

I walked up to the middle aged man who I assumed was the teacher and gave him my new schedule. He looked it over for a moment before gruffly saying "Well little lady, welcome to Auto shop. My names Mr. Hackney. Ya got a car?"

"Uh yeah," I said.

"Bring 'er in," he said.

"Okay," I said reaching in my skirt pocket to take my keys out. I walked out of the garage and past two boys working under the hood of a green jeep to my parked car. I unlocked the driver's side, got in, started the engine and drove to the auto shop garage. I lightly honked my horn to get a few people out of my cars way. I parked next to a green jeep, turned off the engine, stepped out of the door and walked back over to Mr. Hackney.

"Who's car is that, yo?" Toad asked as he turned around after hearing a horn honk.

"I don't know," Lance replied as came out from under the hood. "But it sure is sweet. Pietro, start it again!"

Pietro started Lance's jeep but instead of a smooth engine sound there was a stalled, wettish noise in it's place.

"Ugh!" Lance said as he threw his towel down. "I don't know what's wrong with this piece of junk!"

"Nice car," Mr. Hackney remarked. "Is that a 2008 Camaro?"

"Nope, it's a 2006," I replied. "Me and my dad fixed it up, from the engine to the paint job. Took us two years but when it was finally done, it was my sixteenth birthday present."

"Very nice work," Mr. Hackney said. "Any engine problems so far?"

"No, but my back tires have been shaking a bit, do you think you can check it out?" I asked.

"Sure," he replied as he heard a groan of frustration. "Why don't you go over there and help those boys and I'll check out those tires."

"Okay," I said walking toward the jeep. "Need some help, Lance?"

Lance popped out from under the hood and looked at me in surprise. "What're you doing here, x-geek?"

"Mystique put me in this class," I replied. "Now I see why. And you have one more time to call me 'x-geek' before I throw you into a wall."

"Okay, okay," Lance said defensively putting up his hands.

"Now that that's settled," I began. "What's up with your jeep? The engine sounded pretty nasty a minute ago."

"What do you know about cars?" Lance asked.

"Enough. I manage my own car," I said pointing at the Camaro behind me.

"That's yours?" Pietro asked.

"Yeah," I smiled. "It used to be a piece of shit until me and my dad fixed it up."

"Okay," Lance said. "I believe you. Let's see what you can do. Pietro start the engine again."

Pietro started the jeep and the same noise came from the engine. I pulled my hair into hands and leaned close to engine and heard a really gooey sounding noise.

"Cut the engine. I think I hear the problem," I said looking around.

After making sure no one was looking in our direction, I put my hand above the engine and slowly moved my hand upward to gather the gooey substance in the jeep's engine. After taking the substance out I threw it in a bucket next to the tire.

"Y'all had some kind of slimy green stuff in the engine," I said as I saw Lance angrily look at Toad. "It should be fine now. Try it again, Pietro."

Once again Pietro started the engine and a smooth purring sound came from it.

"Wow," Lance said. "Thanks x-ge- I mean Mina."

"No problem," I replied as I went back over to my car but not before feeling a bit of arousal coming from Pietro and sensing him behind me. I stopped in my tracks and turned around to come face to face with him. "Yes, Pietro?"

"Where did you learn to fix cars?" he asked casually.

"My dad's a mechanic," I replied. "You pick up a few things."

"Is your dad a mutant?" Pietro asked.

"No," I answered. "Is yours?"

"Yeah," he said simply. "Anyone else in your family a mutant?"

"Okay, what's with the Q & A, quicky?" I asked.

"Nothing," he replied. "I'm just trying to get to know you better."

"Why?" I asked suspiciously.

"No reason," Pietro lied.

"I don't believe you," I said. "So what's the real reason?"

"Um," Pietro said.

"Did Mystique send you to do this?" I asked already knowing the answer.

"No!" Pietro answered a little too quickly.

"Your lying," I said. "Tell Mystique to stay out of my business. I don't want to join the Brotherhood."

"Wilson!" Mr. Hackney yelled as he motioned for me to come toward the back tires. "It looks like your tires need to be aligned. I'll do it after school and keep 'er over night ."

"Okay," I said. "Thanks, Mr. Hackney."

"One more thing," he said lowering his voice. "Seeing as your a girl I need some advice."

"What kind of advice?" I asked.

"Well my wife's birthday is coming up and I don't know what to get her," he said.

"Oh, that's easy," I replied. "Send her a bouquet of beautiful flowers and plan a romantic dinner for two. I'm sure you're wife will love it!"

"Thanks, Wilson," Mr. Hackney said. "Geraldine loves flowers!"

"Glad to help," I said as the bell rang. "See you tomorrow, Mr. Hackney."

'Flowers, eh?' Piero thought as he watched me walk away.

At Cheerleading tryouts

After school ended, I stood in the gym dressed in my gym clothes along with the other girls who hoped to claim the coveted open spot on the cheerleading squad.

"Okay! Listen up!" Misty yelled as she and two other cheerleaders; another blonde and a vaguely familiar Indian girl. "You'll do your routines then we'll judge you based on it. You have a minute and a half to impress us. Good luck."

'A minute and a half?' I thought. 'That's more than enough time."

"Okay first up Anita Carson," Misty said looking directly at me. Although my name was first on the sign-up sheet, Misty made sure that I went last but that was fine with me. The only competition here for me was this girl named Heather who managed to land round-off double back handspring and a double full cleanly.

"Last and definitely least Semina Wilson," Misty said while rolling her eyes. I gave my iPod to the Indian girl and told her to press play when I gave her a thumbs up. I walked over to the corner of the springy blue mat and gave her the signal. As soon as I heard the intro to 'Aint Nothing Wrong With That' by Robert Randolph and the Family Band, I mentally prepared myself before springing into action. I clapped my hands and swung my head to the beat before going to the middle of the mat to do a basic cheerleading routine that I learned in eighth grade. I went back to the corner of the mat, ran forward and landed a simple punch front through to a double full. I had ten seconds left of my routine so I decided to end it with one of my best moves: a perfect round off back handspring Arabian. After finishing my routine, I walked up to the three girls who were ready to judge my routine.

"Wow," the first blonde said. "That was like so totally amazing!"

"Thanks," I panted as I wiped the sweat from my forehead. It's been years since I landed one of those and I was a little out of shape so I was really tired and out of breath.

"What did you think, Misty?" the blonde asked.

"I think it was sloppy," Misty replied plainly.

"Sloppy?" I asked. "That was a perfect routine!"

"Your dismount needs some work," Misty replied. "And you forgot to smile. If you're going to be a cheerleader on this squad you need to smile. If it were up to me I wouldn't pick you if you were a last resort but sadly that's not the case."

"Then whose it up to?" I asked.

"Me," the Indian girl said. "And the coach. But I think you were perfect but you always were, Mi-Mi."

'Mi-Mi?' I thought. 'Only one person ever called me that.'

I heard a throat clear from behind us and saw a pretty Hispanic lady in a green track suit waiting patiently with a clipboard.

"I thought she was outstanding as well," the lady said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes," the lady replied. "If my best tumbler says you're perfect than I can't disagree with her now can I? Welcome to the squad, Semina. My name is Coach Hernandez."

"Nice to meet you," I said reaching out to shake her hand.

"Practice is after school from three to five Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Since it's Tuesday and tryouts are over you can go home but be in the gym tomorrow after school and be on time. Talisa here will show you the routines," Coach Hernandez said before she walked to the rest of the girls. "Thank you all for trying out but we've picked our new cheerleader. Better luck next year, ladies."

Groans were heard as she and the rest of the girls left the gym.

'Talisa?' I thought. It took me a second before gasping and running up to hug her. "Talisa Blackman! Is that really you, girl?"

"Yeah, girl. It's me," Talisa said as she returned the hug.

"I knew I recognized you," I said releasing her from my death grip. "You cut your hair. It's looks so pretty."

"And you grew your hair out," Talisa said playing with my ponytail.

"Wait!" Misty said getting out of her chair. "How do you two know each other?"

"Oh, we go way back," I said.

"Yeah, we were the top two gymnasts at our gym back in Virginia," Talisa said. "Until I moved here."

"And we were the best of friends," I said smiling at the memories of us. "You sure aint that short little twig anymore." The last time I saw Talisa, I was 11 and she was 12 and despite the fact that she's a year older than me she only reached my shoulder and now she was towering over me. Her long black hair that used to reach her butt was now cut to her shoulders, her once skinny body was now a powerhouse of muscles and womanly curves and her skin was a light but rich brown. Her sparkling green eyes, pink lips, freckles and button nose stayed the same, though.

"And you aren't that flat chested girl with the big forehead anymore," she said. "You finally grew into your forehead." I lightly hit her in the arm and we both laughed. Back then I was as flat as a sheet of paper then somewhere between eighth and ninth grade I went from an A cup all the way to a C cup.

"I know right!" I said laughing. "Hey can we catch up more tomorrow? I'm really tired and I need to get my bag out of my locker."

"Sure thing, girl," Talisa said as we hugged one more time. "We'll have lunch and talk about the old days."

"Sounds great," I said picking up my duffel bag. "Bye Lisa!"

"Bye Mi-Mi!" Talisa yelled as I walked out of the gym.

'Today was a pretty good day,' I thought walking down the hallway to my locker. 'First I get switched out of French, then I make the cheerleading squad then I find my childhood best friend! Could this day get any better?'

After reaching my locker I saw a folded white note taped to the front of it. It simply read:

"Surprise!"

-P.M

"P.M?" I sarcastically questioned out loud. "No I wonder who that could be?" I opened my locker and was immediately showered by something soft and fragrant. I coughed and opened my eyes to see hundreds of white daisies covering my body and surrounding my feet.

'Oh my god!' I thought as I already felt my skin beginning to tingle. 'Okay, Mina. Don't start itching. Don't start itching. Aw, fuck this!' I starting itching all over my arms, legs and face while heavily coughing and sneezing. I'm deathly allergic to daises, even a few will send me into a wheezing fit but these are hundreds of them!

'This allergic reaction is going to get worse and worse if I don't take my medicine soon,' I thought in alarm. 'It's just a matter of time before my throat and skin swells up!'

I already knew I wouldn't make it home in time to take my medicine before this gets really bad by walking, so I decided to take an alternate means of transportation. Teleportation. I put two fingers to my temple and telepathically contacted Kurt.

(Kurt! This is Mina, I need you to get to my locker now! It's an emergency!)

(I don't know vhere your locker is and zhe school is too far for me to teleport to. Two miles is my limit), Kurt thought back.

(Then get as close as you can and I'll guide you to my locker. Just please hurry!) My coughing turned into wheezing and my eyes were watering so much I couldn't see. I sensed Kurt close-by so I lead him to me with my telepathy.

"Mein gott!" Kurt said as he finally spotted me in the hallway. "Vhat happened?"

(JUST GET ME HOME NOW!) I telepathically yelled as I grabbed my bags sitting next to me. We teleported to a park close to the institute then into the foyer of the institute.

"Professor! Storm! Help!" Kurt yelled as he cradled me in his arms. Everyone came running from where they once were to see me wheezing and itching.

"My goodness!" Ororo gasped. "Come lay her on the couch over here. What happened to her?"

"I don't really know," Kurt replied. "She told me to get her from school and when I got to here she was like this on the floor, covered in daises."

"She's having an allergic reaction," Jean said. "And a serious one at that."

(Emergency antihistamine shot, top drawer, right side) I telepathically said to Kurt. (Hurry!)

Kurt disappeared in a cloud of smoke and a second later returned with the small silver case that I kept my emergency antihistamine shot in. He passed it to Ororo who quickly read the instructions and dosage amount before taking out a metal syringe. She carefully guided the needle into my vain and pushed the liquid in. After a few minutes the wheezing died down and the swelling in my throat started to go down. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wow," Kitty said holding her chest. "That was like seriously scary."

"I'll say," Scott said as he looked at me. "Looks like she's starting to get drowsy. I'll take her upstairs."

"No," Kurt said. "I'll do it. It'll be faster."

"Okay," Scott said as he eyed Kurt suspiciously through his red sunglasses.

Kurt picked me up and popped me upstairs before laying me into my bed.

"Feel better, Mina," Kurt said before disappearing.

Several few hours later

I struggled to open my eyes after my antihistamine induced nap. My skin was still tingling and my face and eyes were puffy and swollen but not as bad as before. I tried to sit up but fell back down to the bed. I inhaled a breath of air but ended up going onto a coughing fit. It was then that I felt a hand reach under my head and help me to drink a glass of water. I looked to my right to see Ororo helping me drink and heard loud snoring that caused me to glance to my left and see a sleeping Kurt in my desk chair.

"Thank you," I said hoarsely as I finished the water.

"Shh, child," Ororo said as she smoothed my hair. "You musn't speak right now. Your throat won't get any better. Would you like some soup?"

(Yes please) I said telepathically as she began to feed me. (How long have you guys been here?)

(I've been in and out but Kurt hasn't left your side yet) Ororo replied.

(Really?) I asked.

(Yes, he seems to be so worried about you) Ororo said as she smiled.

(That's so sweet. Did the professor call my parents yet?) I asked.

(Yes. They'll be sending you another emergency shot soon. He says your sister sounded more worried than your mother) Ororo said.

(I kinda figured. We're real close to each other) I said.

(Just like me and my sister; Evan's mom) Ororo said. (Sisters tend to have a special bond with each other.)

(So true) I replied as I finished the soup. (Can I go take a shower now? I'm going to need some healing for this swollen skin)

(Of course) Ororo replied. (Let me help you up.)

Ororo helped me out of my bed and to the bathroom.

(I think I can handle it from here) I said. (But before you leave can you wake Kurt up for me?)

(Okay, Semina) Ororo replied before leaving the bathroom.

After taking off my daisy infected clothes, I turned on the water and immediately wrapped a water cocoon around myself. After healing myself for ten minutes, the almost all the swelling went down and I could move a little better. I was still going to have to keep doing this for a few more times until I was back to my normal self but at least I'm not dead. After coming out of the shower and getting dressed in my nightgown and slippers I went downstairs to find Kurt. I found him sitting on the couch downstairs sadly eating a sandwich. I went up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and leapt at me while grabbing me for a hug.

"You're okay!" Kurt said happily.

(Yeah, Kurt. I'm fine but my skin's still a little puffy) I telepathically said.

"Sorry," he said releasing his grip on me.

(Ororo told me how you never left my bedside) I said.

Kurt blushed and asked "She did?"

(I think it was sweet) I replied before giving him a kiss on his fuzzy blue cheek. (Thanks for saving my life.)

I walked back upstairs to get more sleep and halfway up the stairs I looked back at Kurt to see him with a smile on his mouth and his hand on his cheek.

A/N: AWWW! So cute! Ooh, looks like Pietro might have some competition. J/K! (or am I?) This chappie was a little rushed but I think it was still good. What do you think? Hit the review button and tell me!


	7. Shadowed Past

A/N: Here's Shadowed Past. ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

Shadowed Past

In Semina's room

I stretched my arms out and let out a loud yawn. Between cramming for finals, danger room sessions, extra anger and telekinesis control sessions and cheerleading practice, I was starting to get more and more tired every day. Not to mention dealing with Pietro. I had managed to forgive him for almost killing me with those daises and we continued our back and forth flirting. He'd ask me out in an arrogant way and I'd always say no. He and I already know that one of these days I'm going to say yes, given the way he asks me, but for now I _do_ enjoy toying with him and he enjoys the challenge that is Semina. And Kurt and I have grown closer since the daisy incident too. He's told me about life in Germany with his foster parents and I've told him about my life back in Virginia; he's the person I'm closest to in the mansion. We watch each others back and worry about each other the way friends do. I wrapped my hair in a silk scarf, turned off my bedroom light and crawled into bed wanting to drive away my fatigue with some well-deserved sleep.

In Rogue and Kitty's room

"Yeah, I know," Rogue said to the person on the phone while looking at the book in her hands. "Thanks for lending it to me. I thought it was great, especially at the end where he turned into a werewolf and nobody knew it! Well I gotta go, I got three finals tomorrow. Talk to you later. Bye." Rogue hung up the phone and placed it on the nightstand next to her before turning off the lamp and slipping under the covers. But about an hour and a half later, instead of sleeping, Rogue was tossing and turning in her sleep due to the nightmare she was having.

In the dream

There was an eerie gray castle in the middle of a spooky forest. Through a window you could see green streaks of electricity crackling wildly. Inside the castle are giant weird looking machines and all of a sudden you heard a woman scream "You monster! What have you done to him?" A woman in a hooded cloak clutched the baby in her arms and ran out of the castle. A man in a cape closely floating behind her shouted "Come back at once!" The woman continued to run with the man floating after her and is soon running outside of the castle in the cold snow. As she's running she starts to be chased by wild wolves until she runs to a rickety bridge.

Back in Rogue and Kitty's room

Rogue was tossing and turning even more in her sleep and saying 'No' over and over again. Kitty, who's still quietly sleeping, is oblivious to what's going on with Rogue. But I wasn't. I was sleeping soundly until I was snapped awake by a wave of terror, frustration and distress. "Rogue!" I gasped as I threw the covers off of myself and started toward her room.

Back in the dream

The wolves pounced on the woman and started tearing at her cloak with their teeth. The woman was trying her hardest to keep herself and the baby safe but was difficult. The wolves pounced once more as she raised the baby in the air to try to protect it but she accidentally dropped it in the running river below.

"Nooooo!" she exclaimed as she watched the baby drop into the water.

Back in Rogue and Kitty's room

By now, I had gotten to Rogues room just in time to see her yell "AHH!" and clutch her head. I ran to her side and began to ask "Rogue, are you-" but I didn't get very far into my question because I had made the grievous mistake of touching her sweat ridden forehead to see if she was burning up or not. Rogue started groaning in pain and I suddenly felt really weak as if my life force was being siphoned from my body and let go of her forehead before I passed out into blackness on the carpeted floor. Kitty who had heard Rogue scream woke up startled and began to go to her side but not before seeing me unconscious on the floor. Kitty ran to my side and tried to shake me awake but looked at Rogue who was panting and put two and two together.

"Rogue, like why did you absorb Mina?" Kitty asked.

"She touched my forehead when she came in to check on me. I guess no one told her what my power was," Rogue replied.

"Oh," Kitty said as she got up and to get a pillow to put under my head then went to Rogues side. Scott and Jean who heard Rogues shriek came into the room and Scott asked "Rogue are you alright? What happened?"

Jean looked down and saw me unconscious on the floor and asked "What happened to Semina?"

Kitty piped up and said "She touched Rogue by accident. She'll be fine."

"So what's wrong Rogue?" Scott asked again.

Rogue put her head in her hands and shook her head and said "I-I don't know. I was dreaming, some kind of awful nightmare. With these-these images, it was horrible."

"Yeah," Kitty said. "Her shrieking totally freaked me out. I just about phased through the bed."

"Whoa," Scott said. "Finals must really be getting to you."

"No, it's not the first time," Rogue said. "I've had this dream before. They started when I moved to the institute." Just then Kurt and Evan came in the room and Evan yawned and asked "What's going on, man? Are you guys okay?"

Kurt and Evan looked down too and saw me passed out on the ground and Kurt knelt beside me and asked "Vhat happened to Mina? Is she okay?"

"She's fine, Kurt. She just touched Rogue is all," Jean told Kurt.

At that moment, I started regaining consciousness and looked up to see Kurt with a look of concern on his fuzzy blue face. "Hey, Kurt," I said. I tried to sit up but was having a hard time doing so, so Kurt cradled me in his arms and helped me up. "Ugh," I said as I clutched my head. "What happened? My empathy sensed Rogue was in distress so I came in here to check on her and that's the last thing I remember before blacking out."

"Whenever someone touches Rogue she absorbed their life force, thoughts, memories and powers if they're a mutant," Scott explained.

"Oh," I said. "My bad, Rogue. No one gave me a heads up."

"It's alright, Mina," Rogue said.

"Why were you so agitated?" I asked.

"Rogue's having creepy nightmares," Kitty told me.

"Vhat about?" Kurt questioned.

"I'm not sure," Rogue said. "There's a castle and wolves and that poor baby. I didn't really feel his face but I seemed to-to know him somehow." She looked at Kurt and everyone else followed her gaze.

"Vhat? Vhy are you looking at me like zhat? Vhat's wrong? Kurt questioned.

"It was you!" Rogue exclaimed.

"Vhat was me?" Kurt inquired.

"Somehow, I just know. It was you Kurt!" Rogue said.

"Vhat are you talking?" Kurt asked.

"In the dream, there was a baby crying, crying and s-someone, a woman think, I didn't really see her face was running and she the baby was dropped into the river," Rogue stated while burying her face in her hands. She failed to notice random things around the room started floating, so I gave Jean a nudge and pointed around the room. Quickly getting the hint, Jean used her telekinesis to bring the objects back into their rightful places.

"And you think zhat baby vas me?" Kurt asked.

"Why am I having this dream?" Rogue asked sadly.

"Maybe the professor can help us sort this out," Jean said while sitting down next to Rogue. "But let's do it in the morning, it's pretty late."

(It's alright, Jean), the professor telepathically said into everyone's mind. (This is important. Rogue and Kurt, please come to the library with Jean and Semina. And the rest of you try to get some sleep. In case you've forgotten, you all have finals in the morning.)

"Man, there's no keeping anything from dude is there?" Evan asked. We all exited the room and me, Kurt, Rogue and Jean made our way toward the library where the professor was.

When we got to the library, Professor X told us to take a seat. I sat on the couch between Rogue and Jean while Kurt sat on an armchair.

"I've always known zhat my parents adopted me," Kurt began. "But zhey never said anything about me being fished from out of a river."

"Don't worry, Kurt. We'll try to sort this out," the professor reassured him. "Rogue, since this was your dream, I think I should start with you. Would you mind sitting here please?" He gestured toward the chair next to him and Rogue got up from her spot on the couch and moved to it.

Professor X wheeled closer to her and said "Now, just relax. Try to think of the dream." He was positioning his hands over her head when Rogue asked "You sure this isn't going to hurt?"

"Yes," The professor replied. "Now, please just concentrate." Professor X closed his eyes and put on a look of concentration while trying to see what was causing the nightmares in Rogues head. As Rogue and the professors looks intensified, I could tell they were going over the nightmares frightening images and trying to make sense of them.

In Rogues mind

The cloaked woman from the dream had turned out to be Mystique. After dropping Baby Kurt in the water she collapsed on the bridge and looked behind her to see then floating man still there and asked him through a tear and angst-ridden voice "Why? Why?" The floating man just looked at her before turning his back and flying back to the castle. Baby Kurt was floating down a river when a man who was fishing in that same river dropped his fishing pole and rushed in the water to get him. He passed Baby Kurt to his wife and they went back to their small home to tend to him. Mystique who had been watching what happened from behind a boulder simply put on her hood and left.

Back in the library

Professor X and Rogue had opened their eyes at the same time and exchanged a look that only they understood.

"Vell?" Kurt began to ask. "Did you see anything else?"

"Apparently, Rogue your dream isn't a dream. It's a repressed memory. Not just your imagination," the professor explained.

"But if I'm in it, vhy is she having zhe dream?" Kurt asked. "Shouldn't it have been mine?"

"Yeah, professor. What's going on?" Rogue asked.

"Well, I'm not quite certain," Professor X said. "You must have absorbed the memories of someone who indeed knows about Kurt's past."

"She touched me!" Kurt exclaimed. "Back vhen ve first met, remember Rogue? Maybe you got zhose memories from me."

"You were just an infant in the dream," the professor said. "It is possible that you could have memories that far back."

"Probe my mind next, professor!" Kurt excitedly said. "To find out more! Maybe I've got more memories, about what happened later!"

"Yes, that might help, but not tonight. We've had quite enough excitement I think for now," the professor said wheeling away.

"But professor," Kurt began to yell after him.

"Tomorrow Kurt. After school, I promise," Professor X said as he wheeled out of the room.

Kurt just sighed and looked and felt slightly disappointed. I got up and put my arm around him in a comforting way, rubbed his back and said "It's alright, Kurt. Trust me, Professor X knows what he's doing. We're gonna get to the bottom of it. Now come on let's get back to bed. It's late and we have finals we gotta ace tomorrow."

"Vell, okay," Kurt said defeated. He teleported me back to my room before saying quick 'goodnight' and going to his own room. 'Finally, a girl can get her beauty sleep,' was the last thing I thought before falling back into a deep slumber.

At school the next day

"You've been carrying a terrible burden for many years, Mystique," the professor said to 'Principal Darkholme'. "Rogues recent contact with you seems to have given her some of your darker memories. Nightmares about a very unfortunate incident involving an infant."

"You're fishing," Mystique said. "You know nothing."

"I know about your relationship with the boy, Mystique," Professor X said. "What I don't know is what Magneto did to him. Why did you run that night?"

"Dear, dear Charles," Mystique said as she walked to her bookcase. "How incredibly frustrating for you. To realize that that amazing mind of yours knows so very little really."

"What were you two up to in that castle? Was it worth the lost of your son?" the professor asked.

Mystique's eyes widen and her head snapped up as she remembered what happened that faithful night. Unbeknownst to Mystique, Professor X was reading her mind as the memory resurfaced on her mind. She dropped the book she was holding whirled around and said "Get out. Get out now!" She pointed toward the door and the professor complied and began to wheel himself out of her office. He stopped before he made it to the door and said "Just in case your curious, he turned out to be a very fine lad." Professor X wheeled himself out of the door and made his way outside of the school. Once the professor got outside, he put two fingers to each of his temples and contacted Logan.

(Logan, I've got the coordinates.)

"Fire away," Logan said as he prepped the Blackbird for take off back at the X-Mansion. He flipped three switches and the jets engines roared to life as it began going down the runaway. A steel door concealed by a waterfall opened up and allowed Wolverine and the Blackbird took off into the sky.

Back at Bayville High

Kurt was sitting at his desk in class looking out of the window with a dazed look on his face. The bell rang and Kurt gathered his things. He took his finished final exam off of his desk and handed it to the teacher as he left class. Me and Rogue spotted Kurt in the hallway and Rogue yelled "Hey, Kurt! Wait up!" Kurt stopped to turn around and saw me and Rogue coming toward him.

"Whats the rush?" Rogue asked as we finally caught up to him.

"You know, prof said we'd look for more answers after school," Kurt said.

"I'll be back," I said as we approached a bathroom. "I gotta go change for practice."

"Right. You sure you wanna know?" Rogue asked Kurt.

"Vhat, of course. Hey vouldn't you?" Kurt asked as he opened his locker to put his book in. "Haven't you ever vondered who your real parents vere?"

"I guess so yeah sometimes," Rogue said. "But Irene was always a good mom to me. I mean sometimes she could be real strict and all but-,"

"My adoptive parents vere great, too, but I always felt zhat zhey vere keeping something from me," Kurt said as he closed his locker. "Vhenever zhe subject of vhere I came from came up, zhey vere always vague and never mentioned anything like zhe stuff in your dream."

"Maybe they didn't know or maybe they were just trying to protect you," Rogue said.

"How?" Kurt asked. "By hiding my own past from me?" I had just finished changing into my practice clothes so when I exited the bathroom, I saw Kurt and Rogue talking in the middle of the hallway. As I got closer I heard Rogue say "Kurt-," before Kurt cut in by saying "Maybe you can live vithout knowing, but I gotta know zhe truth about my life!"

'Well, damn,' I thought. 'I've only been gone for like 5 minutes and I miss a huge argument!' I continued walking toward them and saw Kurt reach for his image inducer and switch it off. 'What is he doing?' I thought alarmed as I looked around the hallway. Luckily there was no one around to see that little change so Kurt was in the clear for now. By the time I got to where Kurt and Rogue were standing Kurt said "I'm outta here," before disappearing a cloud of sulfury smoke.

"Man," Scott said. "What was that about?"

"He's still really worked up about last night," Rogue said.

Scott sighed and said "Well, we better go find him."

"Your gonna have to look without me," I said. "I have practice in five."

"Okay, go ahead, Semina," Jean said.

"Tell the professor I might be late for the session with Rogue and Kurt," I yelled back to them as I ran toward the gym. As we all left the hallway none of us noticed the boy with the orange bang in his hair walk into the secluded space between the lockers and the next hallway and morph into Principal Darkholme.

Under the bleachers

Mystique had asked Pietro to meet her under the bleachers so she could give him an important assignment.

"Well, I'm here," Pietro said as he approached her. "What do you need?"

"I need you to go the Xavier institute and deliver this message to Kurt Wagner," she said as she handed him a large manilla envelope

"Are you sure about this?" he asked as he looked at the envelope. "I mean, I've seen the defenses they've got around that place."

"Don't worry," Mystique said. "You're fast enough. You should be able to get in and out of there undetected."

"Why is this so important?" Pietro asked. "I mean what're you telling that blue-furred freak?"

"Never mind. That's none of your business. Just deliver it," Mystique said in a 'that's final' tone. Knowing not to argue with her, Pietro turned around and sped toward the X-Mansion.

At the X-Mansion

'Ugh,' I thought as I pulled my car into the garage. 'I stink! No cheerleader should ever had to sweat so much.' I parked my car, turned it off and grabbed my stuff and ran up to the doors of the mansion. As I got in I yelled "Hey y'all," before darting up the stairs to a much needed shower. I immediately stripped off my sweaty clothes, threw them in the hamper and happily got in the shower. After basking in the warm water for a few minutes I picked up my favorite Bath and Body Works scented soap, Dark Kiss, and squeezed a generous amount on my washcloth. After washing away the dirt and sweat from my body, I grabbed my favorite coconut scented shampoo and conditioner and worked them into a luscious lather. After quickly washing my hair and rinsing it out, I turned off the shower and wrapped my hair in a towel. After putting on my under garments and throwing on a short and simple sky blue sundress I looked under the bathroom sink for my blow dryer and suddenly remembered I lent it to Kitty. I opened the door to my room and started downstairs to where Kitty was until I felt a very familiar mind enter the gate. Pietro sped through the front door and passed Kitty who was sitting on the couch reading a book.

"Hey, who opened a window?" Kitty asked.

'What's Pietro doing here?' I thought as I felt a huge gust of wind blow past me.

In Cerebro

"Looks like this is the place, Charles," Logan said over a computer speaker. "I'll set 'er down in the woods nearby and go in on foot."

"Good," Professor X replied. "Keep me informed."

"Right," Logan said. "Logan out."

At that moment, Pietro sped over the gate and into the mansion grounds. Professor X immediately sensed a mind enter the gates and put two fingers to his temples to find out who it was. 'Quicksilver,' he thought with an inquisitive look on his face.

(Hey, professor?) I telepathically said to him. (Did you-?)

(Yes, I felt him too, Semina) he thought back to me.

(Want me to find out why he's here?) I asked.

(No need. He's already gone. But I do want you to keep your eyes and ears open for anything out of the ordinary) he told me.

(Sure thing) I said as I broke off the telepathic conversation and continued down the stairs. But I still couldn't understand one thing: What was Pietro here for?

In Kurt's room

Kurt, who was looking at picture of his younger self and his foster parents, hung carelessly from the ceiling until he heard a knock the door. He released his tails grip from the chandelier and in mid drop teleported outside of the room. He looked around and found no one outside his door so he teleported back into his room, only to find a large manilla envelope sitting on the floor. He opened it up and took out the letter that was in it.

"If you vant to know zhe truth, come to zhe new mall construction site at sundown. Come alone," Kurt read off the letter. Kurt walked to his dresser and put the letter in the top right drawer. He looked out the window at the construction site and said "Vhy not?" before teleporting away.

A second later a knock was heard at Kurt's door and Scott entered saying "Yo, Kurt! Professor X says he may have some info-," but Scott stopped in mid-sentence when he realized Kurt wasn't in his room. "Kurt? KURT!" Scott yelled.

Outside Bayville City Limits

"Thats what the note said, I'm telling you," Pietro said into his cell phone. "She's gonna meet that little blue creep tonight! And that Wolverine guy and the Blackbird were gone, just like you said."

"Hmm, as I feared," the person on the other line responded. "Good work, Pietro. Now I to need you to do something further for me. Get the others and intercept Nightcrawler before he gets to Mystique. She must not tell him what he wants to know." The man in the cape looked at the monitor in front of him. "I have to take care of a visitor."

The monitor zoomed in to reveal Wolverine landing the Blackbird in the forest. Wolverine exited the jet and walked toward the big castle. After climbing up a steep, rocky mountain, Wolverine made it to the front doors of the castle. He looked around and sniffed the air before running into it. He stopped behind a stone pillar for cover before he running up the tall staircase. Wolverine got to the top of the stairs but was immediately shocked by jolts of electricity coming from two torrents. He popped out his adamantium claws and stabbed one of the torrents cutting of the electrical current from the other. Only slightly injured, Wolverine continued walking until two laser cannons popped out of the walls and aimed themselves at him. He dodged the lasers to the best of his abilities before he bounced off a stone pillar, flipped and cut one laser cannon which flew into the other cannon causing them to both explode. Wolverine hid behind another stone pillar before he spotted a door and ran through it. After he knocked the door down with his feet, he looked around only to see that the room was completely trashed.

"Wolverine, report," Professor X said through Wolverines communicator.

"Looks like I was expected," Wolverine said. "I think this place was some sort of-," he paused to briefly sniff the air before continuing "-DNA lab or something. But whoever was running it pulled out recently; real recently." Wolverines well trained ears hear a steady beeping noise that caused him to look around only to find a bomb counting down from nine seconds strapped to a stone wall.

"Sorry, Doc," Wolverine said into his communicator. "I gotta sign off, now!" Wolverine turned and ran toward a window which he jumped out of at the exact second the bomb exploded. The castle collapsed from the blast but Wolverine was able to run to the Blackbird instead of being covered in rubble and debris.

Back at the X-Mansion

Jean was walking down a hallway before she heard Scott yell her name.

"Jean! Kurt's taken off," Scott said as he pulled Jean down the hallway. "The professor wants us to check out his room."

"So what are we looking for?" Jean asked Scott as they entered Kurt's room.

"Um, not sure," Scott replied. "Professor X and Semina seem to think Kurt might have had a visit from Pietro this afternoon."

"Quicksilver!" Jean gasped. "He was here? But how?"

"Hey, you know how fast that dude moves," Scott replied as he goes through Kurt's stuff. "And I guess he'd get past the mansions security with no problem."

Jean opened a drawer and found the same note Kurt had earlier. As she picked it up and read it she said "Oh, no," before handing it to Scott and saying "Scott look at this."

Scott quickly read through the note and said "Get the others. We gotta move."

After blow drying my hair, I was sitting in my room reading "Burned" by Ellen Hopkins with my ear buds in. With the volume so loud, I failed to hear the knock at the door until Scott came barging into my room.

"What the hell, Scott!" I yelled at him. "Why did you just barge in here like that."

"No time to explain," he said. "Just suit up and be downstairs in five. We have to go find Kurt!"

"What happened to-," I had started today until Scott just left.

"Ugh, that was just rude as hell," I said as I walked to the closet and pulled out my X-Men suit. 'I hope Kurt's okay though.'

At the new mall construction site

Nightcrawler walked around the site looking for the person who sent the note and called "Okay, so I'm here."

"Hello, Kurt," a cloaked woman said from behind him.

"You!" Nightcrawler exclaimed. "You're zhe one in Rogues dream! Who are you? Vhy don't you show yourself?"

The woman reached to take off her hood and said "You already know me, son," as she revealed her face.

"No!" Nightcrawler exclaimed as he backed away. "No, it's impossible!"

Mystique reached her hand out in a way to try to calm him down but Nightcrawler just yelled "Vhat happened to me. Vhy didn't you-," but his sentence was cut off when he heard a growl and saw Blob jump down from a metal rafter.

"Get out," Mystique said as she touched Blob's shoulder to try to make him leave. Blob just roughly shrugged her hand off as Toad dropped down from a metal rafter just as he did. After Toad came Avalanche then finally Quicksilver.

"Whoa! Far as you go fur-boy," Quicksilver said as he leaned on Blob. "This conversations over."

"Get out of here!" Mystique yelled. "All of you!"

"No can do, boss lady. We got higher orders," Quicksilver said as he snapped his fingers and pointed to the ground in a way to say 'Take him down, boys.'

Toad shot his long tongue at Nightcrawler, but he easily dodged it by teleporting onto a swinging crane hook.

"I got him," Toad said as he hopped up to get Nightcrawler, but he teleported away again. Toad on the other hand got stuck on the hook and swung back and forth while whimpering.

"Vhat kind of game is this, Mystique?" Nightcrawler asked. Toad who was still swinging on the hook, swung directly into Nightcrawler which pushed him off of the metal rafter and got knocked out from the fall to the ground.

In the X-Van

By now, the rest of the X-Men and I had gotten to the construction site and I had already sensed six minds.

I put two fingers to my temple and said "Okay, we got Nightcrawler, Mystique and the entire Brotherhood."

"Good job, Tsunami," Cyclops said. "Lets stay close and move out!" We got to where everyone and I saw the Brotherhood crowding around something but I couldn't see what it was.

"Huh, that was easy," Quicksilver said.

"Wrong!" Cyclops yelled. "It just got hard."

I had to pinch my lips together to keep in the fit of giggles that was threatening to escape my throat. 'What was that?' I laughed in my mind. I quickly pulled myself together when I saw what or should I say whom the Brotherhood was huddled around. "Nightcrawler!" I gasped as I saw the Brotherhood get into their battle stances.

"Get 'em!" Toad yelled as the rest of the Brotherhood charged toward us. Toad jumped in the air and shot his tongue at Spyke who dodged it.

"Hey, wart man!" Spyke said as he sprouted a long bone stick and caught Toads tongue with it. "Lick this!" Spyke pulled the stick with Toads tongue attached to it which caused Toad to fall into a pile of random debris.

Blob charged at Shadowcat who just stood there before crouching and phasing through Blob who fell into the cement mixer that was behind her. Cyclops who saw Blob get stuck walked up to the cement mixer and turned it on.

"Ahh! Hey! Let me outta this thing!" Blob yelled as he was turned over and over and over again.

I looked around for a source of water but didn't find any. I looked up and saw a couple of stray clouds and thought 'Hmm, I wonder.' Clouds are partially made from water, right? I stretched my arms upward and in a downwards pulling motion, I released the water from the cloud. There wasn't much but it would be enough to check if Nighcrawler was alright. I ran and knelt next to him and used the water I gathered to form a glove over my hand. I put my water glove to the back of Nightcrawler's head and the water started glowing white. I sighed in relief as I assessed the damage.

"Just unconscious," I said to Shadowcat and Jean. "He's gonna be fine." Jean tried use her telekinesis to lift Nightcrawler off of the ground but was interrupted by Avalanche who rolled his eyes to the back of his head and sent out a tremor that caused debris to fall the metal structure next to us. I picked up Nightcrawler and draped his unconscious body on my shoulder to keep him from getting hurt.

"Time to rock and roll," Avalanche said as he tried to start another tremor.

"Rock and roll this, creep!" Rogue said as she ran toward Avalanche and knocked him down.

Cyclops who was busy trying to send an optic blast at Quicksilver wasn't having such an easy time.

"Come on, shades!" Quicksilver taunted as he effortlessly dodged all of Cyclopes' optic blasts. "You can't hit me! I'm too fast." Quicksilver ran more circles around Cyclops while saying "You can't hit me can ya!" While running, Quicksilver held out his arm and punched Cyclops on the back.

"Jean!" Cyclops yelled. "I could use a little help here!" Jean put her fingers to her temple and used her telekinesis to lift Quicksilver off the ground and into the air.

"Hey! No fair!" Quicksilver yelled Before he got hit by a blast from Cyclops. "Whoa!" Quicksilver exclaimed as he was thrown into a sand pile.

'Oh, my god!' I thought in alarm. 'Is he okay? Wait, why should I care? Opposite teams, remember Tsunami?' Though that's what I was thinking, I already knew I still cared a little but I'd never ever in a million years admit that. 'Maybe I should see if he's okay,' I thought. I knew I could get into serious trouble for this but I risked it anyway. Trying to be as discreet as possible I turned away from everyone and sent a telepathic message to Pietro.

(Pietro, this is Mina, if your okay just nod your head.) I cut my eyes toward him and saw him give a small nod. I then let out a breath of relief I didn't know I was holding. Believe it or not, I think I actually do genuinely a lot care about his safety. A short yell snapped me out of my thoughts when I saw Rogue touch Avalanche's face with both of her hands to absorb his powers and knock him out.

"Rogue!" Jean yelled as she pointed to Mystique who was trying to escape without anyone noticing. "Over there!

"I see her," Rogue said as she tried to head Mystique off. "Going somewhere? Me and Kurt have a few questions we need you to answer!"

Mystique took off her hood and said "I'm afraid it's too late for answers, far too late."

She tried to run away again but Rogue said "Not so fast," and used Avalanches powers to try to stop her. Rogue rolled her eyes to the back of her head and put her hand out to send a tremor toward Mystique. Rogue stomped her foot made the entire construction site shake. Mystique must've have gotten scared because she morphed into a black crow and flew away.

The shaking from the ground caused Kurt to wake up and rub the back of his head. "Vhat happened?" he asked.

"We'll explain later," I said as I started dragging Kurt toward the X-Van. "Let's get you home."

Later at the X-Mansion

The professor had asked me, Logan, Scott and Jean to meet him in the library the next morning to discuss the events that had just occurred.

"So the dreams Rogue was having were really Mystique's?" Logan asked.

"I'm afraid so," the professor answered. "Rogue must've picked them up when she touched her. Mystique may very well be the boys mother, but we may never know the truth now. There was nothing left of the lab?"

"Nothing," Logan replied. "Whoever was running it didn't want us to find anything, but before it went kablooey it looked that kind of place Dr. Frankenstein might've been comfortable in."

"Genetic experimentation on mutants," Professor X said. "I hadn't realized he was willing to go that far. And poor Kurt." Scott and Jean exchanged a look that said 'Who and what is he talking about?'

'Genetic experimentation?' I thought. 'Where have I heard that before?'

Logan got up and walked to a bookcase and I could feel the sadness radiating off of him. Scott and Jean exchanged another look and this time Jean shrugged her shoulders.

Scott spoke up and asked "So when are you gonna tell Kurt about all this?"

"I'm not so sure the elf needs to know," Logan answered. "At least not yet. Some of this stuff could be pretty damaging."

"So when do you plan on telling him?" I asked.

"When the times right," Logan said.

"And when will that be?" I challenged.

"Now, Semina. I know you're very protective of Kurt and have his best interests in mind," Professor X told me. "But like Logan said this is a difficult time for Kurt and this information could very well prove to be too much to handle."

"All I'm saying is that he's gonna need to know before someone else uses it to hurt him," I said as I got off the couch and headed toward the door. Before I left I stopped at the door frame and added "Just remember this, if and when he finds out we knew and didn't tell him, he'll grow to resent us from keeping the truth from him. And yes professor, I promise not to tell Kurt until the times right." I walked out of the library and headed up to visit Kurt and see how he was doing before we had to go to school. Hell, I'd be sad and upset if I found out Mystique was my mom. I entered through his door but saw he was talking to Rogue, so I quietly waited outside the door until they finished.

"I-I still can't believe it," Kurt said. "Mystique is my mother."

"Listen, Kurt," Rogue said. "Who really knows. I mean that's one seriously disturbed lady, maybe she's just messing with ya."

"I guess," Kurt said. "But zhere is a certain resemblance."

"Hey, look. That doesn't mean anything," Rogue reassured. "Lets just wait til the prof finds more answers for ya, then you'll know for sure."

"Somehow I think he already knows more than he's willing to tell us," Kurt said.

"Maybe," Rogue said. "But if he does, he's probably got good reasons for not telling you."

"Yeah, sure," Kurt said slightly unconvinced.

"Listen, Kurt," Rogue began. "I really do know what your going through. We'll both keep looking and well find our answers together someday. Okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Kurt responded.

"Hey, it's almost time for school and I've got finals. I gotta finish getting ready. So do you," Rogue said as she playfully punched Kurt in the arm.

"Thanks, Rogue," Kurt said as he gave her a thumbs up. Rogue had already started walking away so he failed the notice the tear Rogue wiped from her eye. I sensed a mind coming so I backed away from the door and leaned on the wall in front of it.

"Hey. Rogue," I greeted. "How are y'all holding up?"

"I'm fine but Kurt's kinda bummed," she answered as she turned to walk away. "Go on in and check on him, 'kay? Y'all are really close."

"Sure," I answered. "Oh and Rogue, I'm sad about it, too." Rogue turned around to ask me how I knew, but I had already entered Kurt's room.

"Hey, Kurt," I said. "How ya holding up?"

"Not so good," Kurt replied.

"I can tell," I said. "I could feel your sadness all the way in the library."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Kurt apologized.

"Naw, it's fine," I dismissed. I rubbed Kurt's back and said "Don't worry, it's not the end of the world. It's the beginning of your journey and I say you take the trip."

"I guess your right," Kurt said.

"I know I am," I replied as I reached out to touch his cheek. "At least now you know why your furs blue."

We both laughed for a quick second and I said "Ah, there's that infamous Kurt smile everyone loves so much. Now come on, we can't be late for school." I jotted my head toward the door and said "Come on."

A/N: I hope you enjoyed "Shadowed Past", but why does Semina think genetic experimentation sounds familiar? You'll find out in the next chappie! Next up "The Cauldron" Part 1 and 2, where we see a little bit of Semina's past and a lot of Semina's rage. I decided to skip Grim Reminder because I want to post my Christmas story before 2011. I was hoping to get it done before Christmas ended but I don't think its gonna happen, so sorry! :-(


	8. The Cauldron

A/N: OUCH! That was me reading my reviews. Is my story really that bad? Why did all the Pietro haters have to read my story? My initial vision was to just recreate most of the episodes with my OC in it but like so many of my reviewers say it's crappy and unoriginal. I understand if you bash my story but bashing _me_ is a completely different matter. But for those who actually do like it, I'll keep making chappies for the sake of you guys. And I realized a lot of mistakes I made after reading through my story and I apologize for those. I'm trying my hardest to make it a good story so just bear with me. The beginning chapters are off to a rocky start but I promise by the end of the story, you'll be pleased. The 'unoriginality' I think I'm starting to see so _**after**_ this chappie, I'm going to take a different approach to the next few and see what happens. Here's 'The Cauldron' and what happened to Semina's brother, Andre. ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

The Cauldron Pt 1& 2

Scott and Jean drove through the mansion gates in Scott's bright red convertible Friday afternoon after leaving school.

"Oh yeah!" Scott exclaimed as he jumped out of his car. "Let the weekend begin. Whoo-hoo!"

As he ran inside Jean held up his backpack and yelled "Wait! You're forgetting your homework!" Scott didn't seem to hear her and continued inside. Jean sighed and said "Make that 'ignoring' it'." Jean climbed out of the car and started to head toward the mansion but she stopped in her tracks when she heard the leaves rustling.

"Hello?" she said as a shadowy figure jump from the trees. "Kitty, are you climbing trees again?" Jean parted a bush and stepped through it to see who was there. "Evan? Is that you?" She looked ahead to see a bush rustling, so she lifted her hand and used her telekinesis to lift the bush revealing Toad.

"Oh, so that's the way you wanna play huh?" Toad asked as he leapt toward Jean. He grabbed a tree branch and landed in front of her.

"Toad, what are you doing?" Jean asked before Toad used the branch to knock her off her feet.

"Getting a jump on the competition, yo," Toad said as he twirled the branch in between his fingers. "Ha ha. You want some of this?" Toad brought the branch over his head and swung it down to hit her but Jean used her telekinesis to stop it before it could.

She forced the branch and Toad backwards and asked "Toad, what're trying to prove?"

As Jean got to her feet Toad replied "That I'm a camp not a chump, yo. And guess what we all have to prove it."

"Would you knock it off?" Jean asked as Toad tried to swing at her again. She once again stopped the branch with her powers and broke it in half.

Toad looked at the broken branch before throwing it down and saying "Can't throw a toad away." He leapt on a tree trunk then at her but Jean levitated him toward into a water well. Toad shrieked in his high-pitched girlish voice as he fell in with a splash. Jean ran toward it looked in and called to him.

"Toad?" she yelled down the well. She then heard a whirring sound coming from behind her so she turned around and saw a giant metal sphere fall from the sky and land directly in front her. She walked toward it inspect it but it suddenly opened up. Jean got closer and looked in to see nothing but smoke until two mechanical tentacles shot out and grabbed her by the arms and waist. She was dragged in to the sphere and sealed inside as the top closed. Toad, who had climbed to the top of the well using his long tongue, looked just in time to see the metal sphere shoot into the sky with Jean inside.

"No," Toad said in disbelief. "It wasn't over. I could've still won. It should have been me. Me!"

In Semina's car

"Yes!" I yelled as I drove home with Rogue. "It's finally Friday! A whole weekend of sleeping. School is getting to be real tiring."

"I hear ya," Rogue replied. "But school is almost over and then we'll have summer. A whole three months of sitting in our rooms doing what we please."

"Not to mention Logan sessions," I said grimly reminded her. "I swear those buzz saws have a 'Mina homing beacon' installed in 'em. They seem to love coming at me in the Danger Room, which by the way I always suck at our training sessions in there."

"Don't worry, Mina. I'm sure it's gonna get easier sometime in the far and distant future when we're like thirty," Rogue chuckled.

"Way to cheer me up, Rogue," I laughed as we finally reached our destination. I parked behind Scott's car and turned off the engine but there was still a rumbling coming from somewhere. That somewhere just happened to be my stomach.

"Guess it's time for lunch," I said as I took off my seat belt and quickly got out of the car. "Come on, Rogue! We need to get inside before Kurt eats every possible food item in the house."

"Okay, okay," Rogue said as she got out of the passenger seat. "No need to drag me there. I'm coming."

In Cerebro

Logan , who had received an urgent telepathic message from the professor, stepped into the cerebro room where he found the professor sitting with the headset on. "So," Logan said. "The new cerebro's online."

"Yes," Professor X replied. "And it's pinpointed the emergence of a new mutant; only partially developed."

"Yeah," Logan said. "So what's the emergency?"

"His name is Alex Masters," the professor began. "Once known as Alex Summers; Scott's brother."

"Brother?" Logan questioned. "I thought Scott was the only one that survived that plane crash."

"Yes, so did I," the professor said. "And so does Scott. Have him meet us in the hanger. We're flying to Hawaii. Oh and uh Logan, let's be prepared for trouble. I doubt we're the only ones who have an interest in this young man."

In Hawaii

Alex, who managed to paddle back to shore after being attacked by that shark, sat upon the sand looking at his aching hands. "Man," Alex said as he laid back on the sand. "What is going on with me?"

"I know the kind of pain you're feeling Alex," a floating man said from behind Alex. "I once had it myself."

"W-what what," Alex said frightened. "Where did you come from?"

"I've just arrived," the man answered. "To see you, because I know-."

"You don't know nothing, man," Alex interrupted as he got up to walk away. "Just back off! Creep."

"Your bones, they burn. Your hands ache. The pressure in your head," the man said. "I can give you relief and answers. You never have to feel pain again."

Alex turned around and asked "You some kind of doctor?"

"No, Alex," the man replied. "I am Magneto and I have come to offer you sanctuary."

Back at the mansion

As Logan prepped the X-Jet,the professor waited patiently in the jet hanger for Scott to appear. Logan looked outside the jet to Scott came running in with a duffel bag and drop his duffel bag after the professor told him what was going on.

"What?" Scott asked. "My little brother. He's he's-."

"Alive, Scott. Alex is alive," Professor X told him.

"Oh, man," Scott exclaimed. "I thought he was gone o-or I would have been out looking for him. I should've been looking for him! I mean I just accepted it! Why didn't I-."

"Easy, Scott! Take a breath," the professor said in an attempt to calm him down. "Don't blame yourself."

"But all this time," Scott said. "Where's he been?"

"Well as far as I can determine it, living with foster parents in Hawaii," Professor X said.

"Then come on!" Scott said. "Let's go!" Scott ran a board the X-Jet as the professor picked up his duffel bag and got aboard the jet using a special platform. Just as the jet began to take off me, Rogue, Kitty and Evan came running in the hanger.

"Hey! What's the sitch?" Evan asked. "I thought we were Hawaii bound."

Just then Kurt teleported in front of us and said "Here I am! Ready to give my all to the cause. Hula-Hula." Kurt looked around and saw that the jet was gone and said "Oh man!"

"Sorry, Kurt," I said patting him on the back. "We aint going to Hawaii today."

"We got totally dichted!" Rogue said.

"Hey, you can't blame Scott," Kitty said. "Meeting a brother he hasn't seen in like ten years? I wouldn't want a crowd either. No way."

"Hey," Kurt said as he snapped his fingers. "I'm thinking. Hawaii, not the only beaches in the world, right?"

Everyone else blankly stared at him.

"Hello!" Kurt said. "Road trip anyone?" They all nodded in agreement and cheered at the thought of leaving the mansion.

"Let's go get changed and meet downstairs in the garage," Kurt said. "We'll take the X-Van."

"Yes!" I exclaimed. "I aint been to the beach in years. Now I have a chance to wear my new swimsuits! Come on!"

We all ran back to our rooms to get prepared for our beach day. I went to the big chest where I kept my swimsuits and opened the top drawer. I picked a simple white one-piece swimsuit that had a silver circle that kept the top and bottom part of the swimsuit from separating. It wrapped around the back of my neck and was completely open in the back. There were black polka dots that decorated the swimsuit and matched with the black thonged sandals I was wearing. I choose a see-through jacket that cinched around my waist to keep me covered up until we got to the beach. I tied my hair in a messy bun and put on a pair of big black sunglasses. I went to my closet and found an empty tote bag that I placed a beach towel, sunblock, a swimmers cap to keep my hair dry and baby lotion. I decided not to take my phone or iPod with me because I already knew my parents weren't going to replace them if I damaged 'em. After getting ready I sped downstairs to the garage and found Kurt, Kitty and Evan sitting in the X-Van ready to go.

"WHOO!" I yelled as I settled in next to Kitty and put on my seat belt. "Beach day!"

"Someone's excited," Kitty laughed.

"Yes," I said. "Yes I am."

Evan pressed the button to open the garage door and Kurt started the X-Van and rolled it outside. He dropped the top on van and we all soaked in the warm sun.

"Where's Rogue?" I asked as I took note of her absence.

"There she is!" Kitty said as Rogue came out of the front door.

"Hustle it up, Rogue!" Evan yelled. "Before Auntie O shows up and dry docks our plans."

Rogue came running and was almost tripped by a tan cat. "Shoo!" she said to the cat as it jumped into a bush. "I hate cats." Rogue got in the car and breathlessly said "I couldn't find Jean so I left her a note."

Kurt put the X-Van in drive and drove out of the mansion gates and toward the beach. The tan cat that had jumped into the bush earlier morphed into none other than Mystique as she watched the X-Men leave the mansion.

"Change of plans," she said into a black walkie-talkie. "There on the move."

"Not for long," Lance said back to her.

Back in Hawaii

The X-Jet landed on the shore of the same beach Alex was on.

"You see anything?" Scott asked as he looked out of the front window of the jet.

"No," Logan replied. "And the tide's coming in. This cove'll be underwater in an hour."

"Take a closer look around," the professor suggested. Logan and Scott exited the jet and walked along the shore line to find a white surfboard floating.

"You think it's his?" Scott asked.

"Maybe," Logan answered as he looked around and spotted footprints. He followed them until they stopped completely. "Hmm. Looks like company dropped in on him. Literally. And left the same way."

"What kind of company?" Scott asked looking at the footprints.

"Ugh," Logan groaned. "Magneto."

"Who?" Scott asked. "Logan, who's Magneto?"

"I gotta feeling your about to find out," Logan replied.

(I know you're here, Magneto) the professor telepathically said. (I can sense it. Show yourself.) The X-Jet started rocking and rumbling and caused the professor to lose his concentration.

"It's him," Logan said running toward the jet which had started to ascend into the air. Logan managed to grab one of the wheels before the X-Jet completely floated away with the professor.

Scott stood there in disbelief as he watched the jet get carried away by some invisible force. He then felt the sun that was once in his eyes was replaced by shade which caused him to look up and over at a huge rock. On top of that rock stood a blonde teenage boy who Scott seemed to recognize.

"Alex?" Scott asked. "Alex? Is it really you?"

"Scott?" Alex questioned. "Scott!" Alex jumped off the rock and ran to hug his long lost brother. "Wow, it's like you came back from the dead! I've had dreams just like this."

"Me too," Scott said happily. "Oh, wow. Man this one's real though. And look at you! What happened to that scrawny little kid I used to pick on?"

"Oh hey, that reminds me," Alex said before he punched Scott. "Ha ha. I owed you that for ten years."

"And you still hit like a girl," Scott laughed.

"Believe me bro," Alex said. "There's more to this punch than you know. Man, I still can't believe it. When Magneto told me you were showing up I-."

"Whoa, wait! Magneto?" Scott questioned. "You're with him? That guy just kidnapped my professor!"

"No no no, you got it wrong," Alex reassured. "He told me all about it. He just wants to show him something. Come here for a sec."

Scott and Alex climbed over the giant boulder that Alex stood on before.

"He wants to show all of us," Alex said as he climbed.

"All of us?" Scott asked.

"Yeah, you know mutants. He told me you were one, and guess what ? So am I! See, check this out! " Alex replied as he made his hands glow red. "I couldn't believe it. I got these powers growing inside of me. Man, I was freaked out until Magneto clued me in. He's great, Scott. He knows so much. He wants to meet with us, that's all. I'm going, I mean how could I not? But you gotta come to okay."

"That thing there," Scott said as he pointed to the same metal sphere that took Jean earlier. "It'll take us to Magneto?"

"Yeah, come on," Alex said running toward it. "It's kinda scary, you know? But exciting! Please?"

Scott sighed and said "This just doesn't smell right, Alex. But, I'll go. Just to keep an eye on you and to find Professor X."

Alex put his hand on Scott's shoulder and led him toward the metal sphere. They both climbed inside before the sphere took off into the sky. Meanwhile, Logan was still hanging on to the wheel of the X-Jet as Professor X tried to regain control of it.

"Charles, relax,"Magneto said. "I am in control."

"What is this about, Magneto?" Professor X asked.

"I am simply taking precautionary steps to ensure our survival," Magneto replied. "We both know that humankind will not only learn of us but they will fear us for we are the future. And what man fears he tramples. So I shall be ready for them."

Professor X turned around when he heard a loud grunt and saw Logan's adamantium claws come through the roof of the X-Jet.

"Ah yes, Wolverine. The man with the adamantium claws," Magneto said as he controlled Wolverine's claws. "Of course adamantium _is_ metal and I'm sure you must realize that I am the master of magnetism."

Magneto released his control of Wolverine's claws and he flew off the jet into the ocean below. Wolverine quickly resurfaced from under the water and swam in the direction of an island. After managing to successfully swim to shore, Wolverine dragged himself on to shore before collapsing to his knees. He panted from exhaustion before sniffing the air.

"You look tired," Sabertooth said. "Hard to stay afloat with metal bones, huh?"

"Why do get the feeling I wasn't dropped here by accident?" Logan gruffly said.

"Huh, you got that right bub," Sabertooth said before growling and pouncing on Logan. Sabertooth tried to claw at Wolverine's head but he jumped to the side and dodged. Wolverine tackled Sabertooth to the ground but Sabertooth kicked him off.

"Tell me where Magneto took Xavier," Wolverine said extending his claws. "And maybe I'll go easy on ya. Maybe."

"Hey, he had it easy! A free pass to sanctuary while the rest of us gotta fight to get in. Which actually suits me just fine." Sabertooth said charging at Wolverine once more.

Somewhere in the Arctic Circle

Professor X was still being taken to where Magneto was when he came upon a big weird looking hunk of rock.

"What is this place?" Professor X asked as Magneto brought the X-Jet into a metal runway.

"Welcome Charles, to sanctuary," Magneto said. "Asteroid M."

"What is all of this about?" Professor X asked.

"A rebirth!" Magneto replied. "Your X-Men face a trial by fire as do my own recruits. Mutant pitted against mutant; one shall lose one shall win. Only those who emerge victorious shall take their place here on Asteroid M. Once gathered here, this place of solitude, they can then fully realize their mutant abilities; safe from those who might mistreat them."

"Magnus, don't do this," Professor X said. "We can introduce ourselves to mankind as friends, not enemies."

"You are an idealist, Charles," Magneto said. "I am a realist. It's a dark future that rushes toward us, and we must face it prepared."

At the beach

We had finally arrived at the beach and we were all ready for some sun and fun. I for one was taking a nap because I had an early morning session with Logan and Ororo so I dozed off halfway there.

"Oh, man!" Rogue exclaimed as she stretched her arms. "Feel that ocean breeze? I've been going into meltdown here all covered up like this. I hate it!"

"Yeah, you should try being blue and furry," Kurt said switching off his image inducer. "It's murder!"

I awoke from my nap when I heard Rogue yell "Kurt the road!" I looked ahead to see giant cracks forming in the road so Kurt swerved the X-van to avoid it. I sensed three minds coming up behind us and fast! The X-Van jolted forward as Lance's green jeep rammed us from behind.

"Vhat is going on?" Kurt asked in alarm.

I tapped Kitty on the shoulder and pointed behind us. "It's Lance Alvers and his buddies!" Kitty yelled.

Avalanche stuck his hand out and caused a tremor that caused a piece of the road to catch the back tire of the X-Van and send us flying in the air.

"I'll slow 'em down!" Evan yelled as he launched his spikes toward the jeep. Most of the spikes bounced off but two spikes hit both headlights and it caused them to momentarily slow down.

"Now Avalanche!" Quicksilver yelled as Avalanche stuck his hand out again and this time the tremor he caused made a bunch of rocks fall from the cliff next to the X-Van and land directly in front of us. Kurt swerved again and we were sent onto another road that was incredibly bumpy. Kurt looked up and slammed the brakes when he saw Blob standing in the middle of the road.

"Come here often?" Blob asked as the rest of the Brotherhood pulled up behind us.

"Let's party," Lance said as he stood up in his seat. Blob picked up the X-Van and dumped us out of it. Avalanche aimed his tremor on the sand we were sitting in and we screamed in fright as we were taken underneath the sand.

"Hey man," Toad said. "That didn't take too long at all." The Brotherhood was unaware that me, Kurt and Rogue had teleported out of the sand and directly behind them until Kurt and Rogue tackled Avalanche and Toad. I stayed next to the flipped over X-Van because I had sand in my eyes as well as my hair.

Blob and Quicksilver looked at them in alarm before Quicksilver smiled and said "Time to prove yourself, Evan," before running ahead to push him after Kitty phased him out of the sand.

"And you're staying behind!" Blob yelled as he jumped on top of Kitty.

"Yuck! Blob-ola, I like totally need a shower now," said Kitty as she quickly phased through Blob and passed out.

Kurt was perched on top of Avalanches shoulders wrestling with him until he teleported to the top of a large pile of rocks. Avalanche sent a tremor at the rocks causing Kurt and the rocks to shake violently. Kurt started to fall along with the rocks and teleported to the ground but unfortunately he teleported the rocks with him and they landed directly on top of him.

"I got you beat and you know it, Evan," Quicksilver said as he ran circles around Evan while dodging his spikes. "I will _always_ speed to the top." The sand Quicksilver was running on entrapped Evan in a sand prison up to his making it impossible for him to move.

Toad hopped toward Rogue and shot his tongue out at her but she jumped out of the way and slammed his tongue in the X-Van's door. "Can't say I much want your slimy thoughts in my head, Toad," Rogue said as she removed her glove. "But I'm dropping you right here."

"Relax, Rogue," Avalanche said as he put his hand on her shoulder. "It's almost over."

At that moment, I shook the last of the sand out of my hair, walked up to the Brotherhood and asked "Okay, what brings the Brotherhood to the beach? Attacking the X-Men or did Quicksilver over there just want to see me in a swimsuit?"

"The first one," Quicksilver said speeding toward me. "The second one is just a bonus."

"That don't explain why y'all are here," I said.

"We had to prove ourselves to get into sanctuary," Avalanche said. "But it looks like Toad's being left behind."

"Yo, man! I just gotta get into sanctuary!" Toad said hysterically as he leapt at me and shot slime from his mouth. I simply sent it back toward him because it was water-based so instead of it hitting me in the face, it hit him. He fell to the ground and wiped it off before coming at me again.

I sighed and asked "You're not the brightest are you, Toad? You're fighting a hydrokinetic at the beach and you expect to win." I brought my arm upward, took a large water pillar from the ocean and brought it down on Toad before taking some of the water and wrapping it around my entire right arm.

Toad who had quickly recovered from his impromptu bath got up again and said "That ain't gonna stop me!" He hopped toward me again and I turned the water around my arm into an ice fist that covered my hand.

"Lights out, Toad," I said before punching in the cheek and sending him flying halfway across the beach into a pile of sand. I turned to the Brotherhood once more and said "Okay, there. I 'proved' myself. What I do I get?"

"Here comes your reward," Blob said pointing toward the sky at five metal spheres landed in front of us.

"Shit," I said under my breath as I immediately recognized these spheres. "Rogue, run!" We tried to run in the opposite direction of the spheres but mechanical tentacles shot out of them and wrapped themselves around out arms, legs and waist. The tentacles caught me off guard and my concentration broke causing my ice fist to turned back into water and fall into the sand. Me and Rogue were pulled into the sphere and sealed inside as the Brotherhood happily stepped into their spheres and we all shot into the sky toward Asteroid M.

Back at the X-Mansion

Storm had just gotten home and realized something was amiss when there was no sound in the mansion.

"Hello? Anyone home? Professor?" Storm called into the mansion until she felt something brush against her leg. "Oh, hello. You not quite the 'Kitty' I was hoping to see. Can you tell me where everyone's gone?"

Storm walked up the stairs to check the bedrooms upstairs. "Logan?" Storm continued down the hallway upstairs until she stopped halfway when she saw the silhouette of the cat behind her morph into Mystique. "Well, look what the cat dragged in." Storm immediately turned around and shot a lightning bolt at Mystique who flew down the stairs after getting struck. Storm headed up the stairs in search of Mystique, who flipped down from a rafter and tackled her off the stairs. Mystique landed on top of Storm but she easily kicked her off.

"Give up and I'll make this quick, wind rider," Mystique said. "I shouldn't even have to prove myself to him." Mystique flipped toward Storm and tried to kick her but Storm dodged it.

"I don't know why you have chosen to attack me. And in proof, I don't much care," Storm said as she created a layer of fog making it hard for Mystique to see. "This is my home and you are not welcome here!" Storm ran forward and forcefully punched Mystique dead in the face. After Mystique fell to the floor, Storm cleared the fog and looked down at her before hearing a rumbling and seeing a metal sphere fall through the ceiling. The sphere opened up shot out it's tentacles and trapped Storm inside before flying to Asteroid M.

Back on Asteroid M

"The gathering is almost complete," Magneto said as he watched metal orbs fly in. "Just Wolverine and Sabertooth to go. A storm is coming for mutant-kind, Charles and our resolve must be iron clad. Side with me, not against me."

"You're invitation begs the question, what happens to those who won't come willingly?" Professor X asked.

"If necessary, sometimes salvation must be force fed," Magneto replied pointing to a row of glass tubes containing Rogue, Jean and Storm and me. Once we were captured we immediately got trapped in these tubes that sprayed knock out gas at us.

"Magnus, you haven't saved them," Professor X said. "You've abducted them!"

"A certain amount of persuasion may still be needed I admit," Magneto said plainly. "But for every unbeliever, there is a new convert." Magneto open a metal door to reveal Scott and Alex.

"Scott, no!" Professor X said in disbelief. "Scott, I-I don't understand."

"Professor, wait," Scott said. "We're just here to listen, that's all."

"What about them?" Professor X asked as he wheeled toward the tubes. "Are they here to listen, as well?"

Scott gasped and yelled "Hey! What is this?"

"Simply a precaution, Scott," Magneto replied. "Not everyone has the maturity to accept the need for change as you do. Not yet."

"Let them out, now!" Scott yelled angrily as he reached for his glasses.

"I will," Magneto said. Avalanche stepped in front of Magneto in an attempt to fight Scott but Magneto brushed him aside. [A/N: HA! PWNED!] "We just need to proceed cautiously. Trust me, they are perfectly safe."

(Are they safe, Scott?) Professor X telepathically asked him. (Are any of us safe? I know this man well, his motives cannot be trusted. He's bitter-) Magneto saw that Professor X was telepathically talking to Scott so he moved his wheelchair with his powers and began to trap him in a glass tube.

(Logan, Logan!) Professor X telepathically said to Wolverine. (Lose the battle. Magneto is-,) was the last thing he said to him because Professor X got knocked out by the gas filling the glass tube.

"No!" Scott yelled as his eyes glowed red and he reached for his glasses again.

"Do that and he'll not survive the decompression," Magneto warned.

"Yeah well odds are that great for you either," Scott replied.

"Hey, hey, hey, Scott," Alex said. "Come on, man. This is no good. They're having a little time out, so what! Look I don't get it either but no one should be getting hurt here. You can't blame Magneto for being careful. And all I know is that he just wants to help and I need his help. So come on, holster that thing would ya?"

Scott sighed and said "I don't like it."

"But your brother is right, Scott," Magneto piped I as he took off his helmet revealing his face. "I'm not your enemy nor am I Charles. Very soon you will see the truth."

Back on the beach

After the rest of the Brotherhood, Rogue, and Semina left and Toad came to after that punch, he leaned on a rock and sadly sulked.

"I don't get it. I'm strong, I'm agile," Toad said said as he snatched a fly with his tongue. "I got the skill of tongue. How could I get left behind? Three times!" Toad tried to catch another fly but Kurt caught his tongue from behind.

"Alright," Kurt said as he tugged on Toad's tongue. "Spill it, Toad. Vhat just happened? Vhere'd the others go?"

"Okay, okay," Toad said defeated before Kurt released his tongue. "Yeah, I don't owe that crummy Magneto nothing no more. That's for sure."

"Who?" Kitty asked.

"Magneto," Toad repeated. "One major mega-mutant. He's cleaning out the best from the worst and we lost. Guess what that makes us? Losers."

Kurt grabbed Toad and forcefully asked "Vhat happens to zhe vinners?"

"They get taken to Magneto's sanctuary, yo," Toad said. "On Asteroid M."

"Vhere is it?" Kurt asked.

"I don't know," Toad replied. "I swear!"

Kurt groaned in frustration before grabbing Toad and dragging him toward the flipped over X-Van.

Back on the island

Sabertooth punched Wolverine and he landed in front of a rock.

"Lose the battle?" Wolverine questioned out loud. "I don't get it Charles." Wolverine charged art Sabertooth who tackled him down a hill and onto a cliff. They grappled with each other as they rolled. Wolverine kicked Sabertooth off of him and into a tree.

"I know about Magneto," Wolverine said.

"Then you know _I'm_ the one who belongs at his side, not you!" Sabertooth said.

"You're right," Wolverine said retracting his claws. "Not me." Sabertooth hit Wolverine one last time and sent him flying off the cliff. Sabertooth triumphantly laughed before he saw his metal sphere float down from the sky. He stepped inside and left for Asteroid M. Wolverine who had been pretending he was knocked out looked to his right and found the helicopter Sabertooth came to the island in.

Back at the X-Mansion

After getting the information about Magneto and Asteroid M from Toad; Kurt, Kitty and Evan made it back to the institute with Toad in tow.

"Vhat happened here?" Kurt asked as he entered the wrecked foyer.

"Oh my gosh," Kitty gasped.

"This place is trashed!" Evan said.

"Oh man," Toad said. "You guys live like slobs."

"Storm?" Kitty called into the mansion. "Storm? Hey, are you in here?" On the second level of the mansion, Mystique, disguised as a statue, morphed back into her normal self and jumped down in front of them.

"She's out," Mystique replied. "Can I take a message?"

"Hey," Toad chuckled. "If your still here, than that means you're a loser too."

"Don't ever call me that!" Mystique yelled as she grabbed Toad my the hem of his battle suit.

"Vhat are you here for, mother?" Kurt asked in disgust.

"Simple truth," Mystique replied. "Nobody discards me, especially not Magneto; after all I've done for him! So I'm paying him a visit. We can go together or I can go alone."

"Oh you won't be alone," Logan said as he knocked the broken door down. "If Magneto has our friends then were going after them."

"Good," Mystique said. "But I know the man so I'm calling the shots"

"Then get your own ride," Logan countered. "X-Men, let's go!"

"Oh alright fine," Mystique said as she tossed Toad toward them. "But I expect to be consulted."

The X-Men changed into their battle suits and made their way to the sub levels.

"Like how are we going to get there?" Shadowcat asked. "I thought Magneto has the X-Jet."

"He does," Wolverine replied. "We'll be taking this." He gestured toward a huge and shiny helicopter. After they all got in, he started the helicopter and said "Welcome to the first test flight of the XM-Velocity." Wolverine blasted off into the sky to save their captured friends.

Back at Asteroid M

Scott stood on the balcony of Asteroid M and remembered what happened to the day he got separated from Alex.

"Scott?" Alex said. "Are you okay?"

""I'm just-, I don't know, remembering" Scott replied truthfully as he snapped out of his flashback.

"Yeah," Alex said. "Still wakes me up at night."

"I hit the ground pretty hard," Scott said. "Spent a month in a coma. The hospital said I was the only one who made it. I wanted to be there for you Alex, really I did. I'm sorry."

"Hey don't sweat it, you know," Alex reassured him. "I got along alright. My foster parents are pretty nice."

"What's wrong?" Scott asked as he watched Alex rub his hands in pain.

"Aw, man joints are on fire," Alex replied. "I've been to a bunch of doctors but nobody could tell me what it was; until today, when I met Magneto. Now I know what I am."

"How has he promised to help you Alex?" Scott asked.

"Not just Alex, Scott," Magneto said from behind them. "You as well. Everyone! Together we shall embark upon a wondrous renaissance, I invite you to be apart of it. Come I shall show you."

Magneto lead Scott and Alex back inside and showed them a giant steel door. "I built it right into the asteroid," Magneto said. "Behold, the next step in mutant evolution."

"What is it?" Scott asked.

"A genetic enhancer. Perhaps you've heard of the legendary gems of Cyttorak," Magneto said as he pulled a giant red stone from under his cape. "Well they do exist. Once believed to posses mystical properties, these stones actually emit a very distinctive radiation."

"Hey wait a minute!" Alex yelled in surprise. "You mean you're going to nuke us?"

"I'm going to evolve you!" Magneto said. "To finish your growth. No more pain, Alex and no more hiding behind that visor, Scott. Your powers will be fully realized, giving you complete control!"

"What about them?" Scot asked as he looked at the tubes. "I want 'em released."

"They will be," Magneto said. "But only after you've gone through the transformation. I want them to see what I'm offering. And it is an offer, Scott. I won't force you to go through it."

"We're supposed to just trust this thing works?" Scott asked skeptically. "You go through it then."

"I have," Magneto replied. "I'm fully advanced but why don't I provide you with a real first hand demonstration. Sabertooth?"

Sabertooth turned and stepped into the enhancer that was glowing red and the transformation began as soon as the door closed.

"In a few moments he'll emerge, reborn," Magneto said.

In the XM-Velocity

"Hmm, oh yeah!" Wolverine exclaimed. "This thing cooks!"

Toad whimpered and said "Hear that metal straining? We're breaking up, I know it!"

"Couldn't be," Wolverine said. "This crate's built without an ounce of metal."

"None!" Toad exclaimed. "That means we're flying in what cheap plastic? I need an airsick bag."

"I've got something huge on scanners," Mystique said. "Asteroid M: 463 miles and closing."

Back on Asteroid M

Sabertooth stepped out of the enhancer bigger and furrier than before.

"Boys," Magneto said. "It's time to reach your full potential."

"What do you think, Scott?" Alex asked. "I want to but, but not without you." Scott simply nodded before they walked toward the enhancer.

"Now,for an appreciative audience," Magneto said as he cleared the gas out of the tubes.

I came to from that knock out gas and looked around to see Magneto, the Brotherhood minus Toad, a big scary and furry cat looking guy, Scott and a blonde guy, who I guessed was his brother.

"Scott, no, don't!" Jean yelled as she watched Scott step in the enhancer.

(Scott, I know what Magneto is doing. This thing will alter you mind. Get out of there please!) Professor X telepathically told him. Scott tried to run back out but Magneto quickly closed the door.

"Too late, Charles," Magneto said. "He's mine now."

"So Magneto," I began getting his attention. "I see you've resorted to kidnapping now. That's pathetic even for you. I already told you two years ago that I didn't want to join you. What makes you think I want to join you know?"

"Ah, young Semina Wilson," Magneto said. "Still as stubborn as the day I met you."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," I dismissed as I retied my bun. "You better let me outta this damn tube."

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Magneto said. "It's the only way to ensure you'll comply with me. Your not as easy to persuade as Andre."

My head immediately snapped up and I asked "What do you mean?"

"Don't you remember what happened all those years ago when he got his powers?" Magneto asked.

_Eleven years ago_

_It was like any normal Saturday at the Wilson household. My mom and dad, Estelle and Dwight, were trying to enjoy their day off from work while the eight year old twins, Andre and Anthony were picking on seven year old LaToya and a six year old me. _

"_Look at her big forehead," Anthony said pointing at my forehead._

"_Leave me 'lone, Tony or I'm telling mommy," I said as I covered my forehead._

"_Look at her stupid pigtails," Andre said pointing at LaToya's hair._

"_Stop it!" LaToya said on the verge of tears. "Mommy! They're picking on us again!"_

"_Andre! Anthony!" my mom yelled. "Leave your sisters alone or I'm taking away your PlayStation!"_

"_No!" they yelled in unison._

"_Then stop it," my mom said in a 'that's final' tone. _

"_Let's go, Andre," Anthony said. "We'll leave the two crybabies alone."_

"_Fine," Andre said. "Let's go watch a movie instead. Something with a lot of explosions!"_

"_Yeah!" Anthony agreed. The twins walked toward the TV and put 'Die Hard' in. Every time something caught on fire they cheered. After thirty minutes, the doorbell rang. _

"_I'll get it!" Andre said. He raced to the door, opened it and saw Auntie Viv standing there with a tub of ice cream. "Auntie Viv!"_

"_Hi, Andre," Aunt Viv said as she bet down to hug him. Me, LaToya and Anthony all ran up to her and nearly knocked her down as we hugged her. "Hey kids. How're my favorite nieces and nephews?"_

"_Good!" we all replied. _

"_Can we have the ice cream now?" LaToya asked impatiently._

"_Only if you say the magic word, Tiny Toy," Aunt Viv replied. _

"_Please?" LaToya said with puppy dog eyes._

"_Okay," Aunt Viv said. "Come on in to the kitchen and I'll give you each a scoop. Where's your mommy?"_

"_In the den," Andre replied. "I'll get her." Andre ran outside and returned with our parents a minute later._

"_Hey, Viv," my mom greeted her sister. "What brings you here?"_

"_Um," Aunt Viv said as she finished scooping one scoop of cookies and cream ice cream into a waffle cone for each of us. "Let's talk in the den. You too, Dwight." After they got outside she said "I've been sensing Magneto getting closer and closer here."_

"_What, why?" my mom asked in alarm._

"_I think one of your kids are about to get there mutant powers," Aunt Viv replied. _

"_How do you know?" my dad asked. _

"_The same thing happened when we were younger," my mom answered. _

"_But neither of us are mutants," my dad countered._

"_Well that may be true," Aunt Viv said. "I am. It's possible for them to have gotten the advanced X-gene from me."_

"_Do you know which one?" my mom asked._

"_No, but I think it might be one of the twins," Aunt Viv replied. "They are the oldest."_

_Just then Andre came outside and said "Mom, my ice cream cone is hot."_

"_Let me see, sweetie," she said as she took the cone from Andre and felt nothing out of the ordinary. "Nothing's wrong with it."_

"_Yes there is!" Andre whined. "And it keeps getting hotter!"_

"_Estelle," Aunt Viv said as her eyes widened. "Look at his ice cream." They all looked at Andre's ice cream in confusion because it was rapidly melting._

"_I told you," Andre said before his ice cream cone turned black and caught on fire. He screamed and threw it down and stomped on it. He looked back at his hand, then the other and both were on fire too. "Mommy, what's happening?"_

"_Estelle, he's outside," Aunt Viv said as she sensed Magneto. "Keep the kids inside, I'll deal with him." _

"_Auntie Viv, where you going?" I asked. _

_She patted my head and said "Stay inside Mi, Auntie will be right back. Stay with your mom."_

"_Okay," I replied as I ran up to hug my mom's leg._

_Aunt Viv walked out side and found Magneto floating outside "Vivian, so nice to see you again."_

"_Well , I can't say the feeling is mutual, Erik," Aunt Viv spat. "What exactly do you want?"_

"_I didn't come for a fight I came to talk," Magneto said as he landed in front of her. "I came to offer a solution to your nephews little problem."_

"_What would that be?" Aunt Viv asked._

"_These," Magneto replied as he pulled out a syringe. "Power enhancement shots."_

"_Have they been tested?" Aunt Viv asked already knowing the answer._

"_No but I can guarantee that they will," Magneto replied._

"_Leave, now!" Aunt Viv yelled. "I refuse to Andre be injected with those! He's eight for god's sake!"_

"_But he'll be able to control his powers and when he reaches adulthood he could very well be one of the world's most powerful mutants!" Magneto reasoned._

"_Okay, fine," Aunt Viv replied as she unblocked the path to my house._

"_I'm glad you could see it my way," Magneto said floating past her. At the last second Aunt Viv kicked his metal helmet off and sent a large wave of psychic static at him that made him drop to his knees._

"_Leave now or I'll cripple you from the inside out," Aunt Viv threatened._

"_Okay, okay! Fine," Magneto said clutching his head. "Just stop!" Aunt Viv stopped her mental onslaught and kicked his helmet toward him. As he flew away he yelled "But mark my words, I'll be back!"_

_End of flashback_

"What about it?" I asked. "My aunt sent you away that day."

"She did but I decided to pay Andre a visit, four years later," Magneto said. "He gladly agreed to take those shots and he did everyday for a month."

"Your lying!" I yelled. "Andre would never do that!"

"Oh, but he did," Magneto countered. "It is a shame what happened to him. He had such potential."

The prominent tears that were steadily streaming down my face were quickly replaced with pure rage. "You evil bastard!" I yelled as I began angrily banging on the glass tube. "You killed my brother! When I get out of this tube, I swear to god, I'm gonna make you suffer!"

I continued banging on the glass until my hands turned bright red. I breathed heavily as I stared at Magneto with pure hate and started to hear the sound of glass cracking. I looked around in my tube and saw the glass beginning to break from telekinetic pressure. From what I learned from Professor X and Jean I concentrated on the telekinetic energy and shielded my eyes as my glass tube broke into a million little glass shards. I stepped down from the tubes platform and started slowly walking toward him.

"Sabertooth," Magneto said as the cat guy stepped up to defend him.

"Get. Out. Of. My. Way. This is between me and Magneto," I said to him through clenched teeth. "Don't make me hurt you."

Sabertooth laughed heartily before he growled and pounced on me. I flipped backwards and dodged him before he could get a hit in. He may be big but he's not fast so I ran outside to the balcony and was hit with cold air. I looked down and saw nothing but ice so I brought my arms up and turned some of it into water that I coated both my arms with. I made ice fists on both of my hands the size of watermelons but this time I put three spikes at the end of each to inflict more damage. Sabertooth charged at me and I hit him square in the jaw and halfway across the room. I walked back inside in time to see him get back up and charge at me again. I hit him with a barrage of punches in the stomach, chest and face and knocked him into a wall. He didn't immediately get back up so I turned my attention back at Magneto and turned the fists into giant knives. As I walked closer and closer to him, his stoic face didn't change one bit.

"If I were you, I would be close to begging for your pathetic life by now," I spat in hate.

"And if I were you," Magneto said. "I would turn around."

"Like I'm going to fall for that," I scoffed before I felt Sabertooth grab me by my hair and violently throw me into a metal wall. My head and back hit the wall hard and I felt the air rush out of my lungs as I fell to the floor in pain. I tried to get back up but to no avail. I looked at Sabertooth growling over me then at Piero who's faced quickly flashed a look of concern before returning into a cold glare before I slipped into unconsciousness.

(Semina? Semina, wake up!) Professor X telepathically said.

(Professor, is Semina alright?) Jean telepathically asked.

(Her mind appears to be fine but it's hard to tell,) he replied. (We'll just have to wait until she wakes up.)

"Well now that that's settled," Magneto said. "Scott and Alex's transformation should be done by now." Scott and Alex walked out of the enhancer side by side both more muscular and with white hair.

"Come," Magneto said. "The world awaits you."

"Pain's gone," Alex said incredibly.

"And you shall be called Havok," Magneto told Alex. "Go on, Scott. Show us the color of your eyes. Another benefit to your enhancement, your minds they're purged of useless emotion. You should have a clear perspective of our dominate rule here on earth."

A steady beeping was heard and a red light blinked. Sabertooth looked on the scanner and said "Aircraft."

"Really?" Magneto questioned. "Let's see who it is."

Magneto opened a metal door on the ceiling and tried to control the helicopter but he couldn't seem to.

"No metal," Magneto said as he looked at Professor X who just smiled and shrugged. He looked at Scott and Alex and said "Boys, defend us." Scott and Alex walked out onto the balcony and readied themselves for the incoming intruders.

Wolverine looked on the monitor of the helicopter and saw someone looked really familiar "Scott?" Wolverine questioned as he flew closer to Asteroid M. Scott and Alex blasted them down with their beams but the XM Velocity crashed where they were standing and they ran back inside to prevent being crushed.

(Scott? Scott!) Jean telepathically said before she levitated Scott and Alex to keep them from getting hurt. She set them down next to a wall but the XM-Velocities back rudder hit the wall above them and a big pile of rock and debris buried them and me. Nightcrawler teleported outside of the wrecked helicopter as Shadowcat phased Sypke and herself out. Toad punched the roof of the helicopter out and he along with Wolverine and Mystique came out through the top.

"Knock-Knock," Mystique said looking at Magneto.

"Mystique, you never could take no for an answer," Magneto said as Mystique attacked him.

Wolverine hopped on the top of the tube's wire system and sliced them with his claws. Rogue, Jean, Storm and Professor X were all freed.

"Where's the X-Jet?" Wolverine asked.

"Observation deck," Professor X replied. "That way!"

"Gather there!" Wolverine said as Sabertooth dropped on him.

"Storm, Rogue, prepare the jet," Professor X said as they left. "Jean, let's get to Scott, Alex and Semina."

Blob yelled and charged for Nightcrawler who teleported behind him.

"A body in motion stays in motion," Nightcrawler said as he kicked Blob into Magneto's enhancer causing him to fall down and be knocked unconscious. When Blob hit the enhancer, the door opened.

Avalanche stomped on the floor and big rocks fell from the ceiling blocking the path to the X-jet and almost crushing Spyke but Shadowcat phased him out of harm's way. They phased through the ground then directly in front of Avalanche. Spyke with Shadowcat's on his shoulders kicked Avalanche in the stomach.

Mystique dodged two metal rods that were being controlled by Magneto but they came back at her. Toad jumped in front of Mystique and caught one rod with his hand and the other with his tongue. Mystique jumped up to kick Magneto but he sent a TV monitor at her that knocked her into his enhancer.

"No! My enhancer!" Magneto yelled as he flew in after her. "Get out of there!"

Sabertooth punched Wolverine in the stomach and sent him across the room. Sabertooth tried to step on Wolverine but he dodged. Toad who had been hiding in the rafters threw the metal rod he caught earlier at Sabertooths head but he ended up hitting the electrical box behind him.

"Came back for more, eh Evan?" Quicksilver asked as he ran circles around him and punched Spyke in the chest.

"Hey, been here, done this. New Game!" Spyke yelled as he launched spike in front of Quicksilver.

"Whoa! Tire hazard," Quicksilver said. Spyke smiled a devious smile and Quicksilver looked behind him just before Rogue absorbed him.

Storm tried to unblock the path to the X-Jet by shooting lightning at it but at the rate she was going, it was going to take a while to get it cleared out. Because Asteroid M started to shake violently, it woke up the once knocked out Avalanche and Blob.

"Enough with the tremors, man!" Blob said.

"That aint me," Avalanche said. "This rock's cracking up."

Toad hopped over to Avalanche and Blob and said "Let's make like a toad and hop to it."

"Hey! Which side are you on Toad?" Avalanche asked.

"The side that lives, " Toad replied. "Come on!"

Storm was still trying to unblock the pathway when she got unexpected help from Blob.

"Coming through!" Blob yelled as he smashed through the rocks.

"Get aboard the jet! Quickly!" Storm said to Shadow cat and Spyke who was carrying Quicksilver.

Rogue, using Quicksilver's power, ran up to Storm and said "Semina, Scott and his brother are still buried and Wolverine's got his hands full."

"Go!" Storm said as she flew up into a wind tornado.

Wolverine tried to cut Sabertooth but it didn't affect him. Sabertooth grabbed Wolverine and threw him into a wall before getting swept into Storm's tornado and being slammed into a wall himself.

(Scott, are you alright?) Professor telepathically asked.

(Please, Scott,) Jean telepathically said as she levitated the rocks off of us. She kept at it until a red blast came from underneath the rocks blasting them away. Jean put a telekinetic shield around her and the professor to keep from getting hit with debris. Scott and Alex coughed as they exited the rock pile.

"Storm!" Professor X called to him. He came over and the professor pointed to me. "Get Semina aboard the X-Jet. Hurry!" Storm carefully picked me up and ran toward the observation deck to the awaiting jet. She laid me in a seat across from a passed out Quicksilver, strapped me down and closed the metal slidey door to the back of the X-Jet.

"You and the others," Scott said angrily. "You're ruining everything! This was our chance to unite, all of us!"

"Unite?" Jean said. "For what, Scott and at what cost? Look what Magneto did to you!"

"He's helped me," Scott said. "I'm evolved! No more training, no more hurdles. My powers are now at my mercy!"

"Yeah, so you blasted your friends with it," Jean said. "How united is that?"

"You don't understand," Alex said. "We _are_ the future!"

"Really, Scott? A-are you the future?" Jean asked. "Because if you are, I don't want any part of it."

"You're right," Professor X said. "Mutants shouldn't be divided but we didn't draw the line. Magneto did and it's still there. You just crossed over it." The professor wheeled away to join Jean and headed toward the X-Jet.

"Man," Scott said. "What was I thinking?"

Just then, an explosion was heard above everyone's head and Asteroid M started to shake more violently.

"What about the boys?" Wolverine asked.

"They'll do what they must," Professor X said wheeling toward the X-Jet with Wolverine following him.

A gas piped fell onto a pile of smoldering debris and exploded just as Mystique stepped out of the enhancer in a reptilian form. Asteroid M was started to implode so Wolverine revved the engines of the X-Jet. Jean waited by the entrance of the X-Jet in hopes that Scott had changed his mind.

"We couldn't force them," Professor X said. "They're too powerful."

Jean gasped and exclaimed "Here they come!"

Scott and Alex ran toward the X-Jet but the platform where it was being held exploded and the X-Jet took a nose dive. Wolverine struggled with the controls until he was able to level out the jet. Scott and Alex fell as Asteroid M exploded and started to fall out of the sky. They held hands as they fell through the sky and in an attempt to stop the impact they each blasted a beam toward the ice below. They landed in a puddle of melted ice as they X-Jet hovered above them. More explosions rang out from Asteroid M and huge chunks of rock fell from it. To avoid getting crushed, Wolverine flew the X-Jet to a safer spot further away from the asteroid. Before Asteroid M exploded, two metal spheres shot out of it and blasted away. Asteroid M began to fall out of he sky right above Scott and Alex who both knew what they had to do to stop it.

"Ready, bro?" Scott asked Alex.

"Ready," Alex replied.

Scott and Alex both blasted Asteroid M directly in the middle of it until their beams broke through to the top and completely destroyed it. After it's destruction, Scott and Alex reverted back to their normal selves and everyone ran out to see if they were okay. Meanwhile inside the jet, Quicksilver was waking up from after being absorbed by Rogue.

"Ugh, my head. Where am I?" Quicksilver said looking around. He gasped when he laid eyes on me. "Semina! Semina wake up!" He tried to shake me awake but it was no use, I was out cold. He paced back and forth in super speed until an idea hit him. He went to the bathroom, found a cup under the sink, filled it with water water and came back to where I was laying. He splashed the cold water on my face and waited for me to wake up.

As soon as I felt a cold splash on my face, I snapped opened my eyes and sputtered up the water that was thrown on me. I looked up to see Pietro with a genuine smile on his face.

"Semina! You're awake!" Pietro exclaimed as he sat me up and hugged me tightly. I returned the hug before I winced and grabbed the back of my head in pain. "Are you okay?"

For throwing water on me, I thought a little payback was in order so I decided to mess with his mind. "My head hurts a lot but I guess I'm fine. I just need to know where I am."

"You're on the X-Jet," Pietro replied.

"The what?" I asked.

"The X-Jet," Pietro repeated. "You know the big jet that your bald professor guy owns."

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about," I said. "Who are you again?"

His eyes widened for a second before he smirked and said "I'm your boyfriend, Pietro Maximoff."

"My boyfriend?" I asked.

"Yeah," Pietro said casually. "We go out on dates and make out and stuff."

"We make out?" I asked.

"Yes we do," Pietro said. "Let me kiss you to remind you."

"Okay," I said unsurely. He leaned in and right before our lips touched I punched him in the arm, hard.

"Ow!" Pietro said rubbing his arm.

"That's what you get for throwing water on me, Pietro," I said with a smile.

"So you didn't lose your memory," Pietro said sadly.

"I sure didn't," I said. "Boyfriend." I laughed at his face before I grabbed my head again. "Ow, it hurts to laugh."

"Sabertooth did throw you pretty hard," Pietro said touching the back of my head. "Turn around let me see if there's a bruise on your back."

As Pietro inspected my back, I said "Yeah, no thanks to that bastard Magneto. Why do work for him again?"

"I don't have a choice," Pietro said examining my back.

"There's always a choice," I said.

"Not when he's your father," Pietro replied.

I whipped my head around with lightning speed and said "Y-your father?"

"Yeah," Pietro said. "I told you I had a mutant father."

"I didn't think you meant him!" I said. "Of all the fathers in the world he had to be yours!" I sighed and thought 'This is just perfect!I have a crush on the son of the most evil man in the world who killed my brother!'

"Hey, you can't judge me based on my father," Pietro said. "I'm nothing like him."

"I'm not judging you," I said. "That's actually something we have in common. We both have an evil parent. My mom is about the most evil woman I know."

"Worse than Mystique?" Pietro asked.

"She makes her look like a saint," I laughed. "Maybe one of these days you just might meet her."

"Is that a good thing?" Pietro asked.

"Yes and no," I said. "But that's only if you mange to get me to go out with you."

"I'm working on it," Pietro said. Pietro started to feel on my upper back to check around for any bumps or welts. I shivered at his touch because it felt really nice and because his hands were insanely cold.

"See that," Pietro said smugly. "You shiver when I touch you. You want me don't you?"

"It's because your hands are cold, jackass," I said. "We _are_ in the Arctic circle."

"Sure, that's the reason," Pietro said unconvinced. "There. I'm all done. Your backs fine. No bruises, no welts."

"That's a relief," I said. "For someone with super speed, you sure took your time though."

"I had to make sure you were okay," Pietro said.

"Aww," I said. "You were worried about me."

"No I wasn't," Pietro dismissed.

"Okay, whatever you say," I said leaning onto him. "Now here's a challenge for you: sit still. Your my temporary pillow."

"Hey, I'm not complaining," Pietro said letting me rest my sore head on his chest. My pain started to dissipate and eventually sleep took over. It was only natural because it's been a **long** day. Pietro chuckled as I lightly snored so he wrapped his arms around me and closed his eyes as well.

'A guy can really get used to this,' Pietro thought happily. 'Even if she's an x-geek.'

Evan, sent by Storm, walked to the back on the X-Jet to check on me and Pietro. He opened the slidey metal door and peeked inside to where we lay. Evan's eyes widened in shock when he caught sight of me sleeping on Pietro's chest. Instead of disturbing us, he narrowed his eyes in anger and decided to keep what he saw to himself.

A/N: Uh-oh! What's Evan gonna do now that he saw Mina and Pietro together? In the next chapter, two new mutants arrive on the scene and we visit Mina's home in Richmond and meet her family. Is her mom as bad as she says she is? Read the next chappie to find out!


	9. Water War and The Two New Mutants

A/N: The next few chappies might be a little rushed because I need to put out a Christmas chappie before the new year, so if there's any mistakes, I'm sorry! But I guarantee they're still gonna be good. Now, let's visit Mina's house, meet her family and found out one of the reasons for her violent, angry outbursts.

**WARNING!**

This chapter contains heart wrenching material. You just may cry. You've been warned.

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

Water War & The Two New Mutants

School was finally out for summer and I was ecstatic! No more tests, no more homework and because Misty was in Aspen with her parents no cheeleading practice until August. Unfortunately, the rest of the X-Men weren't as enthusiastic.

"What are y'all doing?" I asked as I walked into the rec room. I found everyone just sitting there watching "Jersey Shore".

"Watching TV," Evan answered.

"I can see that," I replied. "Why aren't y'all out doing fun summer stuff?"

"Watching Snooki get punched in the face is fun," Rogue replied laughing.

"Well no matter how fun that is," I began as I laughed at the TV. "There's so much else to do!"

"Like what?" Kitty asked.

"Since Magneto and the Brotherhood messed up our beach plans, how about we have a little X-Men pool party?" I said.

"Sounds like fun," Kitty said getting up. "I hate this show anyway."

"What about the rest of you?" I asked.

"Nope," Evan said. "We're good."

"Suit yourself," I said. "Come on, Kitty. The pool awaits."

Kitty and I dashed upstairs to grab our poolside essentials: sunblock, towels, inflatable pool chairs, swimmer cap and my iPod with it's speakers. I met Kitty outside her room and we walked downstairs and outside to the pool in our swimsuits; a light blue one piece for her and a bright yellow two piece for me. As Kitty inflated her pool chair I connected my iPod to it's speaker dock and played "This Afternoon" by Nickelback. I hummed along to the beat as I put on my swimmer cap and climbed to the top of the diving board. I jumped three times before gracefully flipping into the warm clear water below. After coming up for air, I swam over to Kitty who was lounging peacefully in her pool chair.

"So Kitty," I began. "Whats the deal with you and Lance?"

"What are you talking about?" Kitty squeaked as she blushed.

"Aha!" I yelled triumphantly. "I knew something was going on between y'all."

"No there's not," Kitty squeaked again.

"You can't lie to an telepath, Kitty," I said. "So spill it!"

"Well," Kitty began. "I mean he's like totally cute and stuff but he's like the leader of the Brotherhood!"

"So what," I said. "That shouldn't matter. You like him and I already know he likes you."

"Really?" Kitty yelled before lowering her voice. "How can you tell?"

"Kitty, I'm an empath I sense these things," I replied as I floated on the top of the water. 'Maybe I should hook them up,' I thought with a smile.

"Yeah but like so what," Kitty said.

"What do you mean 'so what'?" I asked.

"When we first met he like used me to break into the office and steal test answers," she replied.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah and on top of that he like almost totally got me killed!" Kitty said angrily.

'Don't they all?' I thought rolling my eyes at the daisy incident. I put my hand of Kitty's shoulder and said "Yeah but that shouldn't stop you from at least trying to see where the relationship would go. Give him a chance; he might surprise you."

"I guess," Kitty replied unsurely.

I suddenly sensed another five minds approaching the pool and I asked "So what made y'all want to join us?"

"A '16 & Pregnant' marathon just started," Scott said.

"And seeing teenage girls give birth freaks the guys out," Jean laughed.

"Hey man," Evan said. "That's some scary stuff!"

"Okay, enough chit-chat," I said. "Now everyone get in the pool!"

Scott, Jean and Evan all jumped in the pool with a splash but Kurt disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

'Where's Kurt?' I thought before I sensed him directly above me.

"Cannonball!" Kurt yelled as he plummeted into the pool making a giant wave that pushed us all to the ends of the pool and flipped Kitty and her chair over.

"Kurt!" Kitty yelled after she came out from under the water. She splashed water on Kurt and he splashed back and before you knew it, it turned into a full on girls vs boys water war!

"How about we make this water war a little bit more interesting?" Jean asked with a devious twinkle in her eye.

"Interesting how?" Scott asked.

"Losers get the winners chores for a month," Jean said.

"Ooh," I said. "I like evil Jean."

"I don't know man," Evan said.

"Yeah sure," Kitty said. "Unless you guys are like totally chicken." Me, Kitty and Jean all made chicken noises at them until they turned red from anger.

"Alright fine!" Scott said. "You're on!"

"Jean, Kitty," I began as I swam over to them. "Hows about we show these boys how it's done."

"Totally," Kitty replied.

"Lets do it," Jean said as she flew up into the air. She made a telekinetic bubble underwater, brought it up to the surface and released it on the guys heads. Scott removed his glasses and shot an optic blast at the water making it jump up and splash us.

"It's still early," I said. "Do y'all wanna give up now and keep your manly dignity?"

"No!" Scott said.

"Kurt? Evan?" I asked them both as they shook their heads 'no.' "Oh, okay. It's your funeral."

Kurt teleported away and second later returned with a three huge buckets; one for him and the other two for Scott and Evan. They all scooped up pool water and threw them in our faces.

"Hey!" we exclaimed in unison as they laughed and high-fived each other.

"Big mistake," I said as I readjusted my swimmers cap and spit water out of my mouth. "It's on now."

In Cerebro

**ALERT!**

Discovery: Mutant signatures

Extrapolation complete

Identities confirmed

"Identities?" Logan asked. "As in two?"

"It appears so," the professor replied.

Names: Anthony and LaToya Wilson

Residence: Richmond, VA

Ages: 17 & 17

"Semina's brother and sister?" Logan asked.

"Precisely," the professor replied taking off the cerebro helmet. "Prep the X-Jet. I'll tell Semina that we'll be paying a visit to her hometown.

Back at the pool

"I should feel real bad for y'all," I said. "I really should, but this _is_ a water war." I stretched my hands out in front of me, concentrated on the water, put my hands down then brought them back up and made three water pillars that towered high above the pool. I held my hands for a moment before I proceeded to bring them down to soak the guys. I was just about to claim victory for us girls until I heard the professor call us. The water pillars stopped right above the guys heads and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"X-Men," the professor said wheeling up to the pool. "Dry off and get changed. Two new mutants just came on the scene."

"Who are they?" Jean asked.

"Ask Semina," the professor smiled as everyone looked at me. "They're her brother and sister."

"What!" I exclaimed with wide eyes as I brought dropped the water on their heads by accident. "Oops, sorry guys."

"Vow," Kurt said. "Your brother and sister, isn't that vonderful?"

"Oh joy," I said in monotone as I got out of the water and wrapped myself in a towel and sulked inside. The X-Men all exchanged looks before following my lead. Fifteen minutes later, we were all dressed in our civilian clothes and en route to my house via X-Jet. I sat furthest to the back of jet looking out of the window with a look that only Kurt could read.

"Kurt," the professor said getting his attention. "Would you mind checking on Semina? She doesn't seem very excited to be visiting home."

"Sure thing professor," Kurt replied as he headed toward the back of the jet.

"Mina," Kurt said as he sat down next to me. "Is everything all right?"

"Huh? Yeah," I replied a little zoned out. "Couldn't be better! What makes you think something's wrong?"

"You're making that face again," Kurt pointed out.

"What face?" I asked.

"The face you make vhen your annoyed," Kurt replied. "Your eyebrows furrow and you poke your lips out. I've seen it a million times before. So spill it, vhat's on your mind? You don't seem very excited to be going home."

"Okay," I replied defeated. "You got me. It's because I'm not."

"Vhy not?" Kurt asked.

"My parents," I replied simply.

"Vhat about them?" he asked.

"Well they definitely aint my favorite people," I replied a little angry.

"But zhey're your parents!" Kurt said. "How could you not like them?"

I sighed and replied "You'll see what I mean when we get there."

"Fasten your seat belts," Logan announced from over the X-Jets speakers. "We're beginning our descent into Richmond International Airport."

After landing, we all piled into the X-Van and I gave Logan directions to my house. About 45 minutes later we arrived there. A nice two-story house with a light blue trim. My mom's beige Toyota Sequoia, my brother's lime green and black Dodge Charger and my sisters purple Dodge Challenger all sat in the huge driveway. I walked up to the front door along with everyone else and opened it with my house keys.

I twisted the lock open. "Knock-knock! Aint yall gonna welcome me home?"

"Mina!" LaToya said as she ran up to hug me. "How'd you get here?"

"We flew here," I said returning my sisters hug. "Okay, lemme go, Toya. You're suffocating me." I turned to the X-Men and said "This is my hideous sister, LaToya."

"Hey! You're the ugly one of the family," she laughed as she hit me in the arm. "Nice to meet y'all."

"Wow," Kitty said. "You guys look a lot alike!"

"We get that a lot," we answered at the same time.

"If it wasn't for the color and height difference we might as well be twins," I said.

"Yeah, except little Mina here is the shortest of the family," LaToya said pinching my cheek. I quickly swatted it away before crossing my arms.

LaToya was a deep chocolate color with the biggest brown eyes you will ever see. She stood at 5' 8" while I was only 5' 6". Her longs smooth legs walked with elegance and grace when she came to hug me. She has a smile that can light up a whole room with it's cheerfulness and a small but cute nose. Unlike my strong arms my sister had long dainty arms but they could still pack a punch if you mess with her. We look almost exactly alike except her butt is **HUGE** compared to mine. LaToya was the beauty and the brains of the family which always made me jealous of her in a sisterly way.

"Short stuff!" I heard a deep male voice call from behind me. I turned and faced my muscular older brother, Anthony.

"Tony!" I yelled as I ran to hug him. He picked me up in a crushing hug before setting me down. "You finally did something with that birds nest you call hair."

"Yeah well you know I gotta look sexy for the ladies," he replied brushing his hand over his hair.

I laughed and said "What ladies?" before he put me in a headlock. After struggling for a moment I managed to wiggle my way out of it. "This is my freakishly tall, brother Anthony."

Anthony was the same color as LaToya and the tallest of the family standing only a few inches taller than Scott. His once messy afro had been carefully braided into fishbone braids and kept in place with a rubber band. Despite the small goatee on his chin, he had the face of an infant; without any traces of acne or imperfection. He and LaToya had the same bone structure with high cheeks that held his deep dimples in place. His muscles were as big as tree trunks because Anthony was the athlete of the family. Football, basketball you name it Anthony was good at it.

"Semina," my mom as she came from the kitchen. "How did you get here?"

I stepped aside to reveal Professor X waiting patiently.

"Charles," my mom said brushing past me to shake his hand. Everyone took notice at how she didn't even hug me or say 'hi' and looked at me but I just looked at the ground. "It's nice to see you again. I assume you're here to talk about what happened with Anthony and LaToya."

"Well hello to you too, mom," I sadly said under my breath.

"Yes I am, Estelle," Professor X said. "Can we speak in the den?"

"Yes of course," my mom said. "Semina get some drinks for your friends. I know I taught you manners."

"But I just got home," I whined. "Why can't Anthony or LaToya do it?"

"Because they're shaken up from what just happened," my mom replied.

"But they're fine!" I exclaimed.

"Just do it!" my mom said between clenched teeth.

I huffed and said "Fine. Come on everyone, take a seat anywhere in the living room."

We walked further into the house and passed pictures of me and my family when we were younger and happier. LaToya pulled me into the kitchen and asked "So which one's Kurt?"

"The German one with the blue hair," I said discreetly pointing at him.

"Wow, he's cute," LaToya said.

"Would I try to hook you up with an ugly guy?" I asked taking a pitcher of lemonade out of the fridge.

"Actually yeah," LaToya said taking out glass cups. "Remember Travis?"

"I admit that's not my best moment," I said controlling the lemonade into the cups and putting a decent amount in each of them. "But I guarantee that Kurt's a keeper."

"Okay," LaToya said putting the cups on a silver tray. "I trust you."

"Who wants lemonade?" I asked as came into the living room with the tray. Everyone agreed and took a cup.

"This aint cold enough," Anthony said.

"It's fine, Tony," I said irritated. "Just drink it."

"Not until it's colder," Anthony said.

"Fine," I said taking the cup. "You want it colder? Here." I froze the lemonade and gave it back to him.

"Now it's too cold," Anthony complained. I unfroze the lemonade and as he began to take a sip, I froze it to his tongue. Everyone but Anthony and Logan erupted into laughter.

"How's the lemonade, Tony?" I asked as I laughed. "Cold enough for you?" After watching him try to reply and fail miserably, I figured he's had enough so I returned the lemonade to it's original state.

"That wasn't funny," Anthony said.

"Yes it was," LaToya laughed.

"Sasha!" I called into the house.

"Vait," Kurt said. "I thought you only had one brother and sister."

"I do," I replied. "Sasha's not a person."

"Then who is she?" Jean asked.

Just then a tiny barking sound was heard as I crouched down to retrieve my black and brown Yorkie, Sasha when she scampered toward me. Aww's were heard from Kitty and Jean as they saw her.

"This is Sasha," I said as she licked my face with her little tongue. "The cutest and friendliest little doggy in Richmond."

"She's like so adorable!" Kitty said scratching behind Sasha's ears.

"How old is she?" Jean asked rubbing Sasha's back.

"Just two," I answered. "I got her as a Christmas present two years back."

"Semina, Anthony, LaToya," Professor X said. "I'd like to speak with you all in the den."

"Of course," I replied putting Sasha down. "Feel free to look around the house if you like, guys." We all walked outside and sat down next our mom.

"So Anthony," Professor X began. "Tell me, how did you acquire your powers?"

"Well I was on a geology field trip my with earth science class and we were studying red rock formations," Anthony said. "I found a really huge one like the size of a boulder and I tried to pick it up to examine it closer but it was really heavy. I felt the texture and it was really bumpy like a football so that's what I started thinking about. Next thing I know my arm turned the same color and texture as the rock and it the boulder turned into the shape of a giant football, so I tried to pick it up again and it was as light as a feather."

"It appears that you have a sense of earth manipulation and when you take the shape of a rock super strength as well," Professor X explained. "Would you mind demonstrating it?"

"No not at all," Anthony answered. He walked outside the den to the backyard and picked up a small gray rock. He came back inside and his hand turned completely gray. I reached out to touch it and it was hard like a rock.

"It's completely turned to stone," I said incredibly. "Can you move your fingers?"

"Yeah," he said dropping the rock. "It stays this way for a while then it just goes back to normal on it's own."

"Hmm," I said picking up the rock. "Anthony, I want you to look at this rock, concentrate on it and try to turn it into something simple. Like a key."

"Okay," Anthony said as he stared at the key in concentration. A few seconds later I felt the rock in my hand shift around and when I held it up and it was a key.

"Awesome," I said. "There's hope for you yet. Now try to pick up this chair."

I gestured toward the big white armchair behind me and he picked it up with the hand that was made of stone. "Nice," I commented.

"Now onto you, LaToya," Professor X said. "What about your powers?"

"Okay," LaToya began. "Well I was going to dance practice with the rest of team but I got there late. So after practice when everyone left, the coach yelled at me and I yelled at her and it escalated into a screaming match with her."

"So what happened?" I asked.

"I yelled at her and she flew across the gym," LaToya said. "I walked to where she was and she was dizzy then she passed out."

"Oh dear," Professor X. "Well it sounds like you have developed supersonic screams capable of physical incapacitation. I don't think we're going to require a demonstration."

"So," I said. "Are y'all coming to the institute with us or not?"

"Well," my mom said. "I think it would be best if LaToya went but Anthony is almost eighteen. It's his decision to make not mine."

"Of course I'm going," Anthony said.

"Yay!" I yelled as I ran up to hug my brother and sister. "Let's go tell everyone!"

We all walked back inside and found everyone looking around the house at pictures of us.

"I have some news," Professor X said as he gathered everyone around. "Anthony and LaToya have agreed to stay at the institute with their sister." The X-Men all chattered excitedly at the addition of two new mutants.

"Hey, whose are those?" Scott asked as he pointed to the three trophy cases behind our white sofa. "I couldn't help but to notice them. It's quite a collection."

"They're all ours," Anthony said. "We each have our own case."

"Whoa," Evan said. "That's a lot of trophies, man."

"What are they for?" Kitty asked.

"Well, mine is filled with football and basketball MVP trophies and state championship trophies," Anthony replied.

"Mine is filled with academic awards, dance trophies and ice skating medals," LaToya said.

"And mine is filled with gymnastics medals, cheerleading trophies and academic awards," I said.

"While Mina only has twenty academic awards," LaToya said. "I have fifty. I always was the smarter sister."

"So what!" I snapped. "No one cares if your smarter than me anyway!"

"Semina!" my mom yelled. "Don't talk to your older sister like that!"

"I didn't do anything!" I yelled back.

"Calm down, lil sis," Anthony said putting his hand on my shoulder. "No need to get angry."

"She's not angry," my mom said to everyone. "Semina's always been jealous of her brother and sister."

"No I haven't!" I yelled.

"Yes, you have," my mom countered. "Because Anthony got the brawn, LaToya got the beauty and the brains and she got everything else."

"How could you say that to her?" Logan growled.

"Because she knows it's true," my mom replied. "And from when she was just a child she's learned to accept it."

Tears streamed down my face as I shrugged my brother's hand off and stormed upstairs to my old room with Sasha in tow. I came up to my room, threw open the door and screamed. Logan and Kurt were the first people to the top of the stairs.

"What happened to my room?" I yelled. My once black and hot pink room was now deep navy blue and all of my stuff was in boxes on the floor. My bed and dressers were nowhere to be found.

"Oh that," my mom said. "Your father and I _were_ turning it into a weight room for Anthony but seeing on how he's leaving I don't know what to do with it now. We moved your bed and dressers into the spare room."

"Why did you do that?" I asked her.

"Because you're brother needs somewhere to work out," my mom answered. "Don't you Anthony?"

"Yeah, but that's why I go to the gym," Anthony replied. "I never asked you to do this."

"You didn't have to," my mom dismissed. "I knew you would love it, regardless if you wanted it or not."

"I always knew you loved Anthony the most," I said.

"That's not true!" my mom yelled.

"Yes it is!" I yelled. "Ever since Andre died, you and dad have been smothering Anthony like he's gonna die too!"

"I love all my kids equally and so does your father," my mom yelled. "And don't you dare bring Andre into this!"

"Oh really?" I asked. "Then why does Anthony get whatever he wants? Why does Anthony get to go wherever he wants?"

"He does not!" my mom said.

"Yes he does!" I retorted. "God! You are the exact reason I didn't want to come home! It's bad enough that dad completely ignores me like I'm not alive but you treat Anthony like he's the damn golden child of the family!"

"Don't raise your voice to me!" my mom said as she slapped me across my face. "I am your mother and you will show me respect!"

I held my stingy cheek, looked at the X-Men who all had looks of disbelief and sympathy on their faces and ran downstairs.

"I think we finally found one source of Semina's anger," Logan gruffly said as he looked at my mom. "Scott, Evan. Let's get Semina's stuff into the X-Van. Something tells me that she's gonna what them at the mansion."

(Anthony, LaToya), Professor X began. (I think it would be best if you guys started packing. We'll take care of your sister.) Anthony and LaToya exchanged a glance before they walked into their rooms and started packing their suitcases.

I ran and outside to the pool and jumped in.

"Vhat is she doing?" Kurt asked in alarm as he heard a splash. The X-Men all ran out to the pool and looked in.

"She's at the bottom of the pool," Jean said sensing my mind.

"Someone like has to go in after her!" Kitty said.

I formed and ice sphere around myself and sank to the bottom of the pool. The sphere was to provide me with oxygen as I tried to meditate the way Storm had taught me when I felt like I was about to lose control of my anger. I chose to meditate at the bottom of the pool because this way no one would disturb me. I slowly breathed in and out until my heart rate went down. After inhaling and exhaling numerous times, my anger was replaced with sadness as I pulled my legs up to my chest and weeped in emotional pain.

"I'll do it," Kurt said.

"I'm coming too," Rogue said. "The rest of you should wait in the X-Van. We can handle Mina ourselves." They teleported to where I was and knelt beside me.

"Go away," I sniffled.

"Semina, ve are your friends," Kurt said.

"Yeah," Rogue said. "We're not going anywhere until we talk this out."

"Ve'll stay down here for as long as it takes," Kurt said.

We sat there for ten minutes until I finally broke down and said "My parents never called me once since I got to Bayville."

"Why?" Rogue asked.

"Because they don't like me," I said. "Anthony's the mama's boy and LaToya's the daddy's girl so growing up my Aunt Viv was the closet thing to a mother I had. And I've been angry and bitter ever since she disappeared."

"Disappeared?" Kurt asked. "Like into thin air?"

"I don't know," I replied quietly as my voice cracked. "No one knows where she is. I don't even know if she's alive or not."

I started crying fresh tears all over again and Kurt pulled me into his arms while Rogue stroked my hair.

"I love the fact that Anthony and LaToya are coming to live with me," I said. "But I hate it at the same time!"

"Why do you hate that?" Rogue asked.

"Because!" I replied. "They're better than me! They always have been and always will be. And everyone always likes them more than me."

"That's not true," Rogue said.

"Yes it is!" I yelled. "My brother gets the most attention. His car was brand new but me and my sister's were old models that we had to fix up with our dad. He's the better athlete and the most loved kid because he's the only boy in the family now. And my sister is better than me in almost _every_ way possible! She's smarter, taller, prettier, more graceful, has more friends, has thicker hair, has whiter teeth _and_ her butt's bigger than mine!"

"It sounds like you hate them," Kurt said.

"I don't hate them," I said sniffling. "I love my brother and sister to death; we're super close to each other but they make me feel like I'm inferior. Like I'm not as good as I should be. That's why I always _have_ to be the best at what I do because I'm trying to measure up to their greatness. Being a mutant made me feel, I don't know, better than them for once. But now that they're mutants too, I guess they really are the best in the family."

"Vhat about your parents?' Kurt asked. "I'm sure they don't think your brother and sister are better than you."

"Oh really?" I said sarcastically. "My dad doesn't say much to me just 'good mornings', 'good nights' and 'hi's'; all his attention goes to my brother and sister. And I don't even have to say anything about my mom. Y'all already saw that she's an evil witch that hates me. Sometimes they don't even remember my name. My parents have actually called me LaToya more than once! My moms always says 'Why can't you be more like you're brother and sister?' and it drives me crazy! I took up cooking, singing, piano playing, gymnastics, cheerleading and studied cars just to make them pay attention to me! It didn't work though. They never showed up for my recitals, gymnastic meets or cheerleading competitions. Aunt Viv always did, though. Whenever I looked out into the crowd, she was always there instead of them. My parents just don't care about me and I've actually learned to accept it but sometimes it just gets to me."

"Vow," Kurt said stunned. "And I thought I had it bad vith Mystique as a mother."

"You wanna trade moms?" I asked with a chuckle. We all laughed and I wiped away from the last of my tears. "I just really need some hugs right now."

"That I can do," Kurt said as he pulled me into a tight embrace. I looked at Rogue who looked a little uncomfortable. "Come on, Roguey; you too. Don't worry, your not gonna absorb me. I trust you." Rogue still looked like she'd rather not but she hugged me anyway. Well, put her arms close enough to me to look like a hug, but it was a hug nonetheless.

"I think I'm ready to go," I said wiping away the last of my tears. "This ice sphere's starting to melt. Kurt can you 'port us to the X-Van? I have **nothing** that want to say to my mom."

Kurt looked hesitant but he agreed when he saw the desperation in my eyes. "Okay, let's go."

When we got to the X-Van, the rest of the X-Men looked at me and all thought the same thing.

"Yes," I said answering their questions. "I'm fine. Can we just go back to the mansion?"

"Of course," Professor X replied. "Your brother and sister will be following us in Anthony's car. LaToya chose to leave her car."

"The only reason she left it was because it's outta gas," I chuckled. Logan started the X-Van and we got to the airport in record time. Anthony and LaToya came about fifteen minutes later because Anthony's famous for being the only safe driver in the family, so he goes really slow.

"Are we taking a plane?" LaToya asked.

"Nope, were taking the X-Jet," I replied pointing at it.

"X-Jet?" LaToya asked.

"Yeah, completely private and it'll get us there in less than a few hours," I said boarding the jet.

"Private jet," LaToya said. "Damn! Professor X got money like that?"

"Mm-hmm," I nodded. "Wait til you see the institute."

We got on the jet and sat down as Anthony drove his car into the back of the X-Jet' storage room. He boarded the plane and he, along with LaToya, sat close to the front and told the rest of the X-Men about themselves on the way back to Bayville. That left me in the back with my thoughts.

I sighed and thought 'Wow, what're the chances of them both being mutants. If Sierra would have made it, would she be a mutant too? I guess she would have. Aunt Viv has some powerful genes. I really hope Aunt Viv's safe wherever she is.'

Anthony and LaToya made their way to the back of the jet and plopped next to me.

"So what're you thinking about, Mini-Mi?" LaToya asked.

"Oh, nothing," I replied. "So have you guys picked a codename yet?"

"I have," Anthony said. "Just call me Stone."

"Wow, that's original," I laughed.

"Hey, it's better than hers," Anthony said as he pointed at our sister.

"There's nothing wrong with Siren!" LaToya retorted.

"No, but there is something wrong with your face," Anthony said.

"Hey, hey," I said. "Play nice you two."

"We don't have to listen to you," LaToya said.

"Oh, yeah?" I asked as my eyes started glowing yellow. I controlled their emotions so instead of rising anger toward each other they were calm and mellow. Whatever emotion I'm changing in a person, my eyes glow the color of it.

"Okay, we take it back," Anthony said.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," I said smugly. We arrived at the X-Mansion and Logan landed the jet in it's hanger. I figured Anthony and LaToya had enough chill time so I changed their emotions back to normal as we exited the jet.

"Semina, would you show your siblings to their rooms?" Professor X replied.

"Sure thing professor," I replied. "Come on, guys. Your gonna absolutely love the mansion."

Somewhere in the Southwestern region of the USA

A middle-aged black woman sat in the cold, metal prison cell she's grown to hate over the past two years. She stared at the shiny floor at the once beautiful, ebony colored face that was now covered in scars and bruises. She looked up at at the security camera placed in upper corner of the room that let her guards know what she was doing at all times. She was never allowed to leave the cell because then she could try to get help from someone on the outside using her telepathy. She looked sadly at the wall and remembered her family and how much she missed them, especially her niece. Her thoughts were interrupted as the metal door to her cell was violently thrown open. The man who took her from her home stalked in throw the door. She wanted to back away from him with each menacing step he took toward her but there was nowhere to go.

"Good evening, mutie," the man said getting close to her face. The smell of stale tobacco filled her nostrils and made her want to gag. He reached into his lab coat pocket and pulled out an empty syringe. "I've come for more blood samples. We're this close to wiping you freaks off the face of the planet."

A/N: Whoa. That's all I have to say about this chapter. So how'd you like it? Hit the little review button below and tell me! So many unanswered question. Who's Sierra? Who's the captured mutant? Who's the evil man that's torturing her? Why does Semina's mom hate her so much? And more importantly: WHERE _WAS_ PIETRO IN THIS CHAPPIE?


	10. Sorry!

IMPORTANT! MUST READ!

SORRY!

A/N: First off, I would like to apologize to all my readers. I've been trying my _hardest_ to put out a Christmas chappie but I didn't have enough time so I just decided to skip it. But I did manage to put out four chapters from scratch in just two weeks! That's something, right? For me, school resumes on Monday so I might not update for a while, so for new readers enjoy what I've already posted. But you can expect more chappies coming out for the new year!

Now with that being said, I'd like to address my anonymous reviewers. There's a reason I've deleted some of your reviews and that's because there just nasty and mean. Telling me that I'm a terrible person and I suck because I'm not a Jott fan has NOTHING to do with the story I've posted. Even though the reviews about my story have basically been equal in terms of negative and positive, the negative one's are mostly from Pietro haters so I blow them off and file them as unimportant rants. I asked for suggestions for improvements on my story not commands to tell me to basically delete the whole thing! I love what I'm doing and so do a lot of other people, so for those who want this story gone because it's crappy my response is: FAT CHANCE! BTW this is _Fan_ _Fiction, _it doesn't have to match the comics or the character's personalities. This is _my_ story and I'll make it the way I damn well please. If you gotta problem with that, go ahead and press the 'X' at the top of your browser screen!

Thank you to, Jess Maximoff, queenbrooklyn67, cartoongal11, Danika-chan0 and Wildcat for the great reviews. Your encouragement helps fuel my writing! :-)

I plan to continue this story to the end _and_ make a sequel so if you haters don't like it, I simply don't care.

Thanks for reading!

_**Happy New Years!**_


	11. What Did He Just Say?

A/N: THANK YOU! I've been looking over my reviews and thanks for the nice and supportive reviews! I appreciate it! Thanks for the criticism, too. You flamers are funny! And a special thanks to Jess Maximoff, queenbrooklyn67 and cartoongal11! You're some of the people that keep me writing. :-) Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been busy with rehearsals for my school play but there are many more chapters to be put in this story so just hang in there! Here's the new chappie! ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution or any song used in this chapter so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

What did he just say?

Summer went as fast as it came and before you knew it, school was right around the corner. It was the end of August and Anthony, LaToya and the rest of the X-Men were at school cheering Jean on at her soccer game. Of course they were in the stands with the rest of the spectators while I was on the sidelines with the cheerleaders.

"Go Bayville!" the cheerleaders said in unison. "Go! Go! Go Bayville! Whoo!"

Jean kicked the soccer ball into the net and scored the game winning shot. The crowd erupted into thunderous applause because Bayville High was going to the championship soccer game!

"Way to go, Jean," I said as she came over.

"Thanks," she replied as she passed the cheerleaders to go to her football playing boyfriend, Duncan Matthews. And all this time I thought she was dating Scott; guess I was wrong.

"Good job cheering out there, Mini-Mi," LaToya said as she and Anthony came over.

"It's what I do," I replied as Talisa nudged me.

"Mi-Mi, is that your sister?" Talisa asked.

"Oh yeah! I forgot," I said slapping my forehead. "LaToya you remember Talisa right?"

"Of course I do," LaToya replied. "Y'all were inseparable as kids."

"And of course you remember Anthony," I said as he passed by the cheerleaders who swooned after he flashed them a smile.

"That's Anthony!" Talisa exclaimed. "He got so cute!"

"Eww!" LaToya and I said with a look of disgust on our faces.

"What!" Talisa exclaimed. "He did!"

LaToya and I shuddered at the sight of our brother. Anthony just pushed us to the the side and got close to Talisa.

"Talisa Blackman," Anthony said. "Jut as pretty as ever."

"Oh so you noticed," Talisa said as she played along.

"Okay," I said grabbing my duffel bag and Anthony by the arm and dragging him toward his car. "I can't stomach any of this. I'll see you tomorrow, Talisa!"

She gave a wave and watched us walk away and from all the way in the parking lot I could feel her attraction to Anthony.

"No, no, no, no, no!" I yelled as we got into his car. "Absolutely not! Nu-huh!"

"What did I do?" he asked.

"You can't ask her out," I said as I stubbornly crossed my arms. "I forbid it!"

"Man, I don't have to listen to you," Anthony said as he drove toward the institute. "I'm older than you."

"Your point?" I asked. "I may be younger and shorter but I'm still the better fighter. Don't make me kick you ass. Talisa is off limits.

"Why?" Anothony asked.

"Because I said so!" I yelled. "Now just drive the damn car."

"Oh I get it," Anthony laughed. "Your afraid that I'm gonna take your best friend from you."

"No I'm not!" I said defiantly.

"Yes you are," Anthony said. "Because if you weren't you wouldn't be acting like a brat."

I angrily 'hmphed' and turned toward a window

"I'm gonna ask her out," Anthony said. "Tomorrow."

"Fine!" I said. "See if I care."

We arrived to the institute and we were faced with a full on mutant power battle, courtesy of the new recruits.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose and sighed. (Do you want us to stop this before something important gets destroyed?) I telepathically asked the professor.

(If you could), the professor replied.

"LaToya," I said gesturing toward the other kids."Could you just-, yeah."

"LISTEN UP!" LaToya yelled without the aid of her supersonic screams. Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing.

"Okay, okay," I yelled. "What's going on here?"

"Nothing," a boy with brown hair and a blue shirt said.

"It sure don't look like nothing to me," I replied. "So someone start talking."

Everyone just looked around innocently, so I walked up to the youngest one in a red sweater and asked him. Little kids aren't very good liars.

"Hey there," I said.

"Am I in trouble?" the kid in the red sweater asked shyly.

"No you're not," I replied. "Can you tell me what just happened?"

"Well, that girl over pulled a prank on those three over there and they got mad so they started chasing her with their powers," the boy replied in a small voice.

"That's all?" I asked as he nodded. "Thanks, kid. As for the rest of you, nobody's in trouble. Just save that hostility for the Danger Room. Now, get inside. It's almost lunch time."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as they ran inside.

(Thank you, Semina) the professor said.

(No problem. They seem like good kids) I replied.

(They are and they seem to respond well to you, so I'm having you and a few of the other X-Men assist with their training) the professor told me.

(Does that include Anthony and LaToya?) I asked.

(Yes it does, just don't go overboard with the training) the professor said.

(Hey, when have I ever gone overboard? You know, on second thought don't answer that), I said.

(Very well) the professor said before breaking the telepathic conversation. I looked at Anthony and LaToya who just stared at me.

"It's really creepy when you zone out like that," LaToya said.

"I didn't zone out," I said. "I was talking to the professor. I _am_ a telepath."

"You still look creepy," Anthony said.

"Can we just go get some lunch?" I asked disregarding my stupid older brother.

"Aint nobody stopping you," Anthony replied as he shoved me toward the mansion doors.

"You know what," I said as I bent down to retrieve Sasha, who greeted me with at the door with a lick to the face. "Just for that, I think I'm gonna enjoy torturing you in your training sessions."

"What do you mean?" Anthony asked. "Wolverine and Storm are our instructors."

"Oh they are," I said walking to the kitchen. "But I'm a teachers aid along with the other X-Men, so ha!"

"That's not fair!" LaToya screamed as she shattered a few glasses. "We're X-men too!"

"Well yes and no," I said pulling things out of the fridge to make a ham and cheese sandwich with. I pulled out a piece of roast beef and gave it to Sasha who greedily gobbled it down. "I'm already trained, so I'm an _official_ X-Men. You guys are trainees, which makes y'all 'New Mutants'."

"Why do we have to be New Mutants if we're older than you?" Anthony asked.

I picked up a piece of shatter glass and replied. "This is why. Y'all have little to no control over your powers."

"What about your telekinesis?" LaToya asked. "I don't see you being as good as Jean."

"Hey! I can lift like five pounds on my own now _and_ make a shield," I said. "And besides that's a technicality."

"How?" Anthony asked.

"'Cause I said so," I smugly replied taking a bite out of my completed sandwich.

I polished it off in two minutes and grabbed a bottle of water and headed up to my room. Luckily, Professor X didn't make me share a room with my sister because she's a loud snorer. It actually sounds like a chainsaw. I threw my now empty bottle of water in the small black trashcan in my room and took a shower. I got changed into sweats and headed downstairs to the rec room where I found Kitty, Scott, Rogue, Evan and the New Mutants laughing.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Kurt's like finally met his match," Kitty said.

"What do you mean?" I asked in confusion.

"Your brother challenged Kurt to a game of 'NBA 2K11' and Kurt's like totally getting his ass handed to him," Kitty laughed.

"That's all Anthony does," I said as I shook my head. "He's been playing video games since before I was even born."

Cheers and laughter erupted as Anthony claimed victory against Kurt.

"Aww, come on!" Kurt desperately said pulling out 'MADDEN NFL 2011'. "One more game!"

"Fine but it aint gonna make a difference, Kurt," Anthony said.

"Ooh," I said squishing in between Kitty and Scott. "This is gonna get good."

Twenty minutes into the game, Anthony was ahead by fifteen but Kurt was slowly catching up. Kurt was just a few points behind when I heard Nicki Minaj's verse of 'Monster' playing from my phone telling me I had just gotten a text from Talisa. It read:

EMERGENCY CHEER PRACTICE!

GET 2 DA GYM **ASAP**!

I sighed and quickly got off the couch.

"Where are you going?" Scott asked.

"Emergency cheer practice!" I yelled back as I ran up the stairs. I changed out of my sweats into a pair of black shorts, a white wife beater, and a pair of black and Nike Air forces. I grabbed my keys, iPod and phone and threw them into a small duffel bag as I ran back downstairs and out the door to my car. I drove to Bayville High, parked my car and ran to gym at full speed. Even though it was Thursday, cheerleading practice was cancelled today because we were on rest mode for the big pep rally before the championship soccer game on Friday.

"Okay, I'm here!" I said breathlessly. "What's the big emergency?"

"We just got a new, permanent principal and he's asking us to perform at an assembly," Chelsea, the co-captain said. Ever since Mystique disappeared to god knows where, we've had temporary principal after temporary principal.

"So?" I said.

"The assembly's tomorrow!" Chelsea said.

"Tomorrow?" I yelled. "But they always give us like a week of practice time before we do anything for a school event!"

"Not this time," Talisa said. "We need to make a routine _with_ a pyramid like now."

"So let's start," I said as I began stretching my muscles.

"Look around," Chelsea said. "Notice anyone missing? Like, I don't know, our captain."

"Where the hell is she?" I asked.

"She went for a facial after school and she's not answering her phone," Chelsea said. "I'll try again."

"She's the freaking captain of the squad and she's not even here!" I exclaimed. "Why _is_ she captain?"

"Her parents are rich so they donate like thousands of dollars to the school so when she asked Principal Darkholme to be captain of the squad, she couldn't say no," Talisa said.

A groan of frustration was heard from Chelsea as she hung up her phone. "Ugh! She turned her phone off! It's going straight to voicemail now. You know what? I'm co-captain of this squad so I say we start without her!"

It took us hours to choreograph the steps, choose the tumbling, form the pyramid and set it all to music but we finally got it done and the routine looked amazing. If there's one thing us cheerleaders can do, it's pull a rushed routine out of our asses.

"Good work, everyone!" Chelsea yelled as we left the gym. "We're gonna do great tomorrow. Get to bed early 'cause it's gonna be a big day tomorrow!"

I got back to the mansion around seven o'clock and showered before passing out from exhaustion on my bed. I had to be thoroughly rested for the early morning training session with the New Mutants, the assembly _and_ the pre-game pep rally.

The next morning

I woke up at 5:30 A.M to help Wolverine and Storm with the New Mutants training. I brushed my teeth, showered and pulled on my X-Men suit before tying my hair in a ponytail.

(Ah, Semina you're awake. Do you mind waking up the recruits?) Professor X asked.

(Not at all), I replied. I located the New Mutants mind and said (Wakey-wakey, new recruits! It's time for your first training session. You should each find your X-Men training suits in your closet. Suit up and meet downstairs in fifteen minutes.)

I walked outside my room and met up with the other X-Men who were waiting outside my room. I yawned and said "Morning."

"Morning," they replied.

"Do we always have to wake up this early for training?" I yawned.

"It's part of being an X-Men," Scott replied. "Getting up early to train and wearing tight spandex."

"Whoa! Did Scott Summers just make a joke?" I asked in shock. It _must_ be early if Scott was cracking jokes.

"Not the same Scott Summers who's always being so totally serious?" Kitty asked playing along.

"It couldn't be!" Kurt said. Everyone except Scott all hysterically laughed.

"Yeah, ha ha," Scott said. "Let's just get downstairs."

Our laughing gradually died down and we went downstairs to find every new recruit standing around yawning and quietly talking to each other.

"Good morning, new recruits," Scott said. "If you'll follow us to the Danger Room, we'll get your training started."

Me and the rest of the X-Men piled into the elevator and headed to the Danger Room. Scott and the New recruits came after us. We walked into the Danger Room where we found Professor X, Wolverine and Storm waiting for us.

"How are we going to help train the new recruits?" Jean asked.

"An excellent question, Jean," Professor X said. "You six will be assisting Wolverine and Storm with simple training sessions that include power control, tactics and strategy, how to pilot the X-Jet and combat/survival training."

"Sounds simple enough," Kitty said. "What're we doing today?"

"Since it's the recruits first day of training, we'll start with something simple," Professor X said. "Basic self-defense skills _without_ the use of their powers. Semina, Rogue, since you two are the better trained fighters here, you two will be helping Wolverine in this session."

"Yes, professor," we replied.

"Well stripes, sprinkler, you ready to train some fresh meat?" Wolverine asked.

"Bring 'em on," I said stretching my arms.

"Yeah, we can handle it," Rogue said.

Wolverine turned to the new recruits and said "Welcome new recruits to the Danger Room. A majority of your training will be done in here to help improve the way you handle your powers. Today we'll be learning about basic self-defense techniques. Here to help me are two of the X-Men, Rogue and Tsunami."

"Wait," the boy, that was in the blue shirt from yesterday, said. "We have to fight them! But they're girls!"

"Yeah," I said as I, along with the rest of the girls, shot him a death glare. "What's your point?"

"I don't wanna beat up a girl!" the boy said. "I mean look at you! You look so defenseless!"

"Oh, you shouldn't have said that," LaToya said. "You're in for it now."

"Just for that, you're going to go first," Wolverine said. "Tsunami, show 'em how it's done."

"My pleasure," I said cracking my knuckles. "Come stand in front of me. What's your name?"

"Bobby," he replied.

"Okay, Bobby," I said. "Come at me like your going to attack me."

"I don't wanna hurt you," Bobby said.

"As if you could," I chuckled. "Now attack me!"

"Um, okay," Bobby said as he ran forward to punch me. I easily dodged, grabbed his arm and forced it behind him. He tried to hit with with his other arm but I caught it and forced that one behind him to. I lightly kicked him behind each knee and brought him toward the ground.

"Still think I'm helpless, Bobby?" I asked. He frantically shook his head no.

"And this is what happens when you underestimate your opponent," Wolverine said. "First rule of self-defense: _Never_ underestimate your opponent. You can let him go now, sprinkler."

I released my hold on Bobby and helped him off the floor.

"Now let's start you off with the basics," Wolverine said. The training continued for about an hour until we had to get to school.

* * *

Me, Talisa and the rest of the cheerleaders stood by the back door of the gym with Coach Hernandez dressed in our cheerleading uniforms, waiting for the assembly to start.

"Okay, girls," Coach Hernandez said. "Chelsea told me that you girls just got word of the assembly yesterday, so just go out there and do your best."

"Yes, coach!" we all yelled. I opened the door and coach and a few other cheerleaders peeked in with me. The assistant Principal, Mr. Harris, got up and walked to the podium.

"Shh, it's starting," Coach Hernandez said quieting the rest of the cheerleaders down.

"Now everyone, let's give a warm Bayville High welcome to our new principal Mr. Edward Kelly," Mr. Harris said. A man in a gray jacket got up and shook his hand before stepping up to the podium. All of a sudden, the gym started to shake and rumble a little, courtesy of Lance, and I stood unsteadily on my feet until it stopped. Principal Kelly did fall, though.

"What was that?" Coach Hernandez asked. The rest of the girls all just looked at her and shrugged in . Principal Kelly stepped back up to the podium and tried to start speaking when the gym started to shake again. Only this time it was more violent.

'What the hell is he doing?' I thought. 'Someone's gonna get hurt!'

My assumptions were correct when I saw the basketball scoreboard start to fall right above Principal Kelly's head. Somehow, the scoreboard flew backwards and missed Principal Kelly completely.

'Hmm, thank you Jean,' I thought.

Principal Kelly got up off the floor, only slightly shaken up*, and said "Whew, since when is Bayville on a fault line?" People laughed in spite of what just happened and waited for him to start speaking.

[*A/N: No pun intended!]

Principal Kelly went into this long winded speech about our special gifts and talents and I mentally laughed. 'He doesn't know the half of it.'

"However with that said," Principal Kelly continued. "I want your second priority to be supporting the girl's soccer team for the championship!"

The crowd started cheering at the mention of the game.

"And that means I want everyone of you to turn out tonight for the big pre-game rally!" Principal Kelly said. "Can we count on you?"

His question was answered with more cheers.

"And here to give you a sneak peek of tonight's rally are the lovely Bayville Hawks cheerleaders!" Principal Kelly said as he ran back to the podium and moved it. He, the assistant principal and administrators moved their chairs to make room for us.

"Okay, girls," Coach Hernandez said. "It's showtime." Coach Hernandez ran to the deejay that was stationed at the side of the gym and started to cue up our music, "Like a G6" by Far East Movement. Me and the other cheerleaders ran out and the crowd jumped to their feet in thunderous applause at the sight of us. Our three male spotters, Keith, Jake and Richard, brought out the springy blue mat that me and Talisa could use for our tumbling. We got into formation to start the routine. I was to the far right at the front with Talisa opposite me. I looked around and saw Pietro and the rest of the Brotherhood leaning on the wall so I gave him a wink before the music started. At the end of the hook, me and Talisa started the routine by doing a simple backflip. We moved closer to the other cheerleaders and started dancing in sync to the music. They moved to the sides and cleared a path as me and Talisa ran forward and did side by side round-off back handspring fulls. The crowd cheered once more. We moved to the same mat corner and did front handspring punch front round off back handspring double perfectly in sync. After dancing some more we ended the routine with a simple pyramid; Chelsea in the middle doing a liberty and me and Talisa at the sides doing heel stretches. After the music ended, we all dismounted off our mini pyramids into a pop cradle.

Chelsea ran to the front of the crowd, picked up the megaphone in front of the stands and yelled "If you wanna see more, come out to the girl's championship soccer game tonight! Whoo!"

The assembly ended, so everyone cleared out and returned to class. We all grabbed our duffel bags that were put to the far left of the gym next to the deejay and met up with coach.

"Good job ladies," Coach Hernandez said. "Very good job. I'll see you at the game tonight."

After she left, I felt a giant source of anger coming toward us and turned around to be face to face with a fuming Misty.

"What the hell was that?" Misty yelled at us. "I'm the freaking captain of this squad! Why wasn't I told we were performing for the assembly?"

"Because you never picked up your phone," Chelsea said. "So we came to a cheer-greement to go on without you. End of story."

"But, but-," Misty stuttered. "It was super important!"

"You were getting a facial," Talisa countered.

"An important one," Misty exclaimed. "My pores were huge!"

"Sorry, but that makes no difference," Chelsea said. "Cheer rule number six: Always keep your phone on in the event of a cheer-mergency. Which mean your on probation for the rest of the day. That includes the pep rally tonight."

"But that's not fair!" Misty screeched. "I'm the captain!"

"Can we go to class while y'all sort this out?" I asked exasperatedly. Listening to this girl's high pitched squeal was gonna be the death of me.

"Yeah, the rest of you go to class," Chelsea said. "I'll deal with her."

Me and the rest of the cheerleaders started to walk out of the gym toward the main building but I decided to go the other side of the gym to talk to Pietro.

"So, Mina," Pietro said as he saw me come near him and the Brotherhood. "I saw you cheering out there. You didn't tell me you were a cheerleader."

"There's a lot I haven't told you about me," I said leaning on the wall next to him with my shoulder.

"Like what?" Pietro asked.

"Get me to go out with you and I'll tell you," I said. "I'm surprised y'all are even in school. Without Mystique here I thought y'all would've dipped by now."

"We would have but little Lancey has a crush on Pryde," Pietro mocked.

"Shut up!" Lance said. "I do not."

"Yes you do," I said.

"How would you know?" Lance asked defensively.

"For three reasons," I said as I held up three fingers. "One: I can read your mind, Two: I can feel your emotions and Three: you make it so damn obvious."

"You read my mind?" Lance asked angrily.

"I said I _can_ read your mind, I never said I did," I countered. "Look, I wanna do you and Kitty a favor."

"What kind of favor?" Lance asked suspiciously.

"A push in the right direction," I said. He looked blankly at me before I said "I'm trying to hook y'all up."

"Oh!" Lance said. "Why would you do that?"

"'Cause she likes you too, dumbass," I said.

"She does?" Lance asked happily.

"Yeah, just go talk to her," I suggested. "She's not willing to admit it out loud yet but she does. Just give her time. She'll come around."

"Thanks for the advice," Lance said. "Hey, aren't you supposed to be in class right now? School isn't over yet."

"I know," I said. "But I'm a cheerleader. I have a 'get out of class' free pass."

"Hmm," Pietro said. "You could put that to good use."

"How so, quicky?" I asked. "By leaving school to go on a date with you?"

"You learn quickly," Pietro said leaning close to me. "I like that."

"I'm sure you do," I replied as I leaned close to him as well. "But I have classes to get to. I'll see you at the game. I'll be looking for you in the stands."

"What makes you think I'll be there?" Pietro challenged. "My life doesn't revolve around you."

"It doesn't have to. You'll be there because you can't resist a sexy cheerleader in a short skirt, Pietro," I said gesturing toward my white, red and gold two piece uniform. "_And_ because you like me."

Pietro blushed for a nanosecond before he said "Yeah, right."

"Keep lying to yourself," I said walking toward the exit. "Hey, for all you know, I just might like you, too." I winked at him before walking out of the gym.

"Wait a second," Lance perceived. "You were just flirting with her, weren't you?"

"What! No!" Pietro denied quickly. "It was a witty and sarcastic conversation."

"All this time you've been getting on my case for liking Kitty, when _you_ have a crush on Semina," Lance said.

"No I don't," Pietro retorted. "She's nothing more than a challenge to me."

"Who are you trying convince, Pietro? Me or yourself?" Lance asked.

Pietro looked at Lance for a moment before saying "I'm-going-to-class!" super fast and speeding out of the gym.

"What's his problem, yo?" Toad asked as he tried to catch more flies.

"Beats me," Fred shrugged. "Hey, Lance maybe you should take lessons from Pietro. Maybe then Kitty'll talk to you." He and Toad laughed before Lance started shaking the gym with his powers again.

"Hey, man, can't you take a joke?" Toad asked before he fell from the shake of the tremors. "Apparently not."

* * *

After school ended, I drove to the mansion. When I got there, I parked my car next to the fountain. There was no use in putting it in the garage if I was going to leave for the game in a few hours. The game itself starts at 7:00 P.M but the pre-game rally starts at 6:30 P.M and it was 4:02 P.M now. So that gave me some time to catch a quick nap and eat before it started.

* * *

After my nap and lunch, I walked back out to my car and sped over to the soccer field. Most of the other cheerleader's were already there so I brought my duffel bag, with my X-Men suit in it just in case, out of the car and walked over to them.

"Hey,y'all," I said as I set my bag down on the sidelines. "When do we go on?"

"We're scheduled for 6:45 P.M," Chelsea said. "First we cheer, then we line up and the soccer players run through us to get to the field. Start getting stretched out."

"Gotcha," I said. I cut my eyes toward Misty and asked "Hey, why is she here? I thought she was on probation."

"She talked to the coach," Chelsea said. "If there's on thing Misty's good at, it's sweet talking her way out of trouble."

I hmphed and said "Hey, Talisa has my brother talked to you at all today?"

"Yeah," Talisa. "Anthony said he wants to talk to me after the game."

"Wait!" Chelsea yelled. "Anthony? As in Anthony Wilson?"

"Yeah," I said. "What about him?"

"That sexy new piece of man candy is your brother?" Eva, another cheerleader, said.

"Eww," I shuddered. "But yes, he's my brother."

"You two don't look anything alike," Eva said.

"I look like my aunt," I said. "And he looks like our dad."

"Cut the chit-chat, ladies!" Misty yelled. "It's almost time to go on."

I looked around the field and saw the fields were packed. 'Since when is girl's soccer so popular in high school?' I thought.

"Now let's welcome to the field our very own Bayville Hawks cheerleaders!" the announcer said.

We ran out into the field and immediately started the routine that had been burned into our brains. As 'Evacuate the Dancefloor' by Cascada began to play we sprang into action. Perfectly in sync with the music and each other. Because were on a hard grassy field, me and Talisa stuck to basic tumbles: handspring layout stepouts and round off back handspring back tucks. After delivering a flawless routine we ran to the sidelines, got our pom poms and lined up into two lines. Every time a player ran through all we had to do was wave our pom poms and smile. After all the players ran through, we returned to the sidelines and the game had just started when I heard a familiar voice boom over the speaker.

" 'Scuse me, folks," Lance said into the microphone. "Hey! Can I have your attention up here?" I looked up only to see the Brotherhood in their battle suits.

"My name's Lance. I also call myself Avalanche," Avalance said. "Because I'm a mutant."

My eyes widened and under my breath I murmured "What did he just say?" in utter disbelief.

"That's right," Avalanche said. "Me and Toad and Blob and Quicksilver here; we're all mutants! Born different. What you might call freaks."

'What in his right mind would make him do this?' I thought.

"You see there's lots of mutants at Bayville High," Avalanche said. "Scott Summers over there, he's one."

'Oh now he's naming names. Please don't say my name! Please don't say my name!' I thought as I mentally crossed my fingers.

"And so's Jean Grey, your big soccer star. And most of their pals at the Xavier Institute. Which is kind of a school for weirdo mutant nerds," Avalanche said. "Now, being mutants mean we got these special powers we can use to make little improvements,. For instance, we thought this game would be more fun if the goals were further apart."

Avalanche stuck out his hand and sent a tremor that caused a big gap to from down the middle of the field. Luckily none of us were standing near the middle of the field.

"They really are mutants," Chelsea said in disbelief.

"Hey, Mina," Talisa said with fear in her voice. "Don't you live at that place, too?"

"Well yeah, but-," I stuttered as I picked up my duffel bag. 'This is gonna go south real fast. I just gotta make it to the rest of the team,' I thought as I began to walk backwards.

"She's a mutant too!" Misty yelled as she pointed at me. "I always knew she was a freak! She cheated her way onto the squad!"

"I did not!" I countered. "Talisa you have to believe me! You know me!"

"I _thought_ I knew you," Talisa said flatly. "You never told me you were one of those-those FREAKS!"

"She's not only a mutant, she's a liar too!" Misty yelled as she and the other cheerleaders started coming toward me.

"Hey, look!" I shouted. "There's a mutant behind you!"

Being the naive and gullible cheerleaders they are they actually turned around and looked behind them. That distraction gave me enough time to turn around and run toward the other X-Men without them noticing.

"Guys, pull me up!" I said as I stretched my arms toward Scott and Anthony. They grabbed my arms and hoisted me up to where they were on the bleachers.

"You okay, little sis?" LaToya asked. "You look a little shaken up."

"I'm fine," I replied. In reality I was far from fine. I never thought that my best friend would turn on me so quickly. The word 'freak' rattled and echoed around in my head like the continuous ring of a bell.

"And we figured, the principal ought to have a little better perspective of his student body," Avalanche continued as Quicksilver ran circles around Principal Kelly and lifted him up into a tornado.

Scott stood up and said "Sorry professor X. Cat's outta the bag." We all grabbed the bags with our X-Men suits in them and headed to the bathroom behind the bleachers to change.

Anthony grabbed my arm and asked "What about me and LaToya? We're not trained enough to handle them and we don't have our suits with us."

"Then stay here and protect Professor X," I said before I followed Rogue and Kitty to the bathroom. When I got in I immediately stripped off my cheerleading uniform and put on my suit. As I zipped the front zipper I asked "Do they have to cause trouble everyone they go?"

"That's what they live for," Rogue said putting her boots on.

"And to think I was just about to give Lance a chance," Kitty huffed.

"We can talk about that later," I said. "Right now we have to go!"

When we finished changing, we ran back onto the field just in time to see Blob standing on the top of the bleachers holding the flaming eagle statue. Cyclops shot an optic blast and it flew out of Blob's hands and on top of the gym which caught on fire.

"Alright, Lance," Cyclops said. "You want it all out in the open, let's put it out there!"

Avalanche jumped down from the top of the announcer's station and he and Cyclops started exchanging blows.

"First things first," I said. "Shadowcat, Spyke, take out the footage from the news van." They ran off and took care of it.

"Rogue, let's try and- oof!" My sentence was cut short because out of nowhere, Quicksilver fell and landed right on top of me.

"See I showed up," Quicksilver said smugly.

"Yeah, I can see that," I grunted trying to wiggle my way out from under him. I'll admit I'm kind of enjoying it under here but his er um, package, is practically stabbing me in the thigh. I tried lifting him off of me but it wasn't working. For a pretty skinny looking guy, he was heavy! "Could you move before I make you move?"

"You wouldn't hurt me," Quicksilver dismissed.

"_I_ wouldn't," I said. I pointed behind him and said "But _he_ would."

Quicksilver was immediately lifted off of me by the rock form of Anthony and I got off the grass and dusted myself off.

"Quicksilver, meet Stone," I said, "My older brother."

"B-b-brother?" Quicksilver asked in fear.

"Yeah," Stone said menacingly. "Stay away from my little sister." Stone easily threw Quicksilver halfway across the field without any signs of struggle. He landed with a thud and I winced at his hard impact to the grass.

"I thought I told you to protect Professor X," I said.

"Siren's got it covered," Stone said. "And you looked like you could use a little help."

"I was fine," I retorted as I heard a crash from behind me, courtesy of Blob who just destroyed some wooden bleachers. "Since your out here with the big dogs, might as well make yourself useful."

"Let's go," Stone said.

Rogue had taken out Blob by absorbing him but there were some kids trapped under the wreckage. And the bleachers were starting to give way. I put two fingers on each side of my temples and searched for minds under the bleachers.

"A couple of kids are buried," I said. "Get Shadowcat and I'll guide you guys to them." I gave them directions to them and Stone lifted wooden panels while Shadowcat phased them out.

"Bring them over here," I instructed. I touched the grass and pulled the water out of it to form a water glove. I checked them for any damage and luckily they were okay except for a few scrapes and splinters. "Is there anyone else that I haven't checked?"

"Just one," Stone said. "Shadowcat's getting her out now."

Just the I heard Lance scream "Kitty, look out!" My head snapped to the side as I saw the flaming gold hawk statute fall on Lance who pushed Kitty out of the way at the last second. My world froze at the sight of the flickering flames and a familiar source of fear entered my body.

"Lance!" Kitty screamed before she phased him out from under the statue. "Oh my god, like please be alright, Lance. Semina! Help!"

I snapped out of my stupor and ran to where they were and pulled off Lance's helmet. I put my hands on the sides of his head and dug into his mind to ensure there was no brain damage. I breathed a sigh of relief when I found nothing wrong with him. I inspected his head with my gloved hand and found no serious injuries. I then started to feel the cool downpour of rain and looked up to see Storm fly out out of the sky and land next to Professor X. I put one hand up and deflected the rain above our heads by creating a make-shift water umbrella.

"Don't worry, Kitty," I said turning my attention back to her. "He's just knocked out. I doubt he has a concussion, though. This helmet's pretty solid."

"Thank god for that," Kitty said breathing more easily than before.

"It looks like you care about him a lot," I said.

"I guess I do," Kitty said smiling weakly. "But I guess I just can't help it."

I looked at Pietro and sadly said "Yeah, I know what you mean."

"What're you looking at?" Kitty asked.

"Oh nothing," I blushed. (Pietro! Can you and Fred get over here?)

They walked over and I said "Here take Lance home. Watch his head."

Fred picked him up as carefully as possible and Pietro winked at me before speeding toward Lance's jeep.

"Did Pietro just wink at you?" Kitty asked.

"What? No!" I exclaimed. "Why would he do that?"

"You tell me," Kitty said with a raised eyebrow.

I heard Storm yell "Charles!" and turned around just in time to see the professor pass out.

"We need to get him to the X-Van!" Scott yelled. "Now!"

Storm wheeled him over to the van and Scott and Anthony picked up the professor to put him in a seat.

"I have my car for whoever won't fit in the van," I said as I pulled my keys out. Me, Anthony and LaToya headed to my car and once they got in I immediately drove over to the mansion. Ororo and Logan got the professor to the med-bay and told us to wait and see if he's okay when he wakes up. Everyone anxiously waited around to hear if Professor X had woken up or not. But Kitty was concerned more about Lance than the professor. Her growing fear and concern was distracting me from the book I was trying to read, so I grabbed my keys off my nightstand and went to her room. I knocked on the door and when Kitty answered it, I grabbed her hand and started pulling her downstairs.

"What's going on?" Kitty asked.

"We're going for a little drive," I elusively answered. "Your just going to have to trust me on this one."

We got into my car and I tracked the Brotherhood's mind to the Brotherhood Boarding House. The outside was done in a beautiful Victorian style manner and I wondered if the inside looked just as beautiful.

"What're we doing here?" Kitty asked.

"Your clearly worried sick about Lance so I'm taking you to see him," I replied parking behind Lance's jeep. "Come on." We got out of the car and I knocked on the door.

Toad answered the door and asked "What're you two doing here, yo?"

"Doing Lance a favor," I replied. "Go ahead, Kitty. Upstairs first door on the left."

"Thank you," Kitty said phasing through Toad and running up the stairs to Lances room.

I looked around the house in horror. It looked nothing like the outside! The walls were cracked, the paint was chipping, some kind of greenish goo was splattered on the wall, there was dirt and trash strewn about and a smell like that out of a dying animal but I assumed it was just Toad. Despite the shock on the inside, I kept a straight face.

"Toad! Who's at the door?" Pietro yelled from inside the house. Pietro looked at me smirked and said "Ah, so you couldn't stay away from me could you, Mina? That's the Maximoff charm at work."

"I'm not here for you," I said. "I'm here to help Kitty. And for the last time you're 'Maximoff charm' doesn't work on me."

"You weren't complaining when I was on top of you," Pietro replied arrogantly.

"Whoa! Whoa!" Toad said. "On top of you?"

"He fell on me!" I said. "And I seem to remember my brother throwing you across the field a little while after."

"Yeah and it hurt," Pietro said. "I could've bruised something important like my face! Maybe you should kiss me to make me feel better."

"Hows about you get me to go out with you then we'll talk kissing, 'kay quicky," I said.

"Oh, we won't need to be talking," Pietro said leaning close to my face.

"I agree," I said leaning into his face. I slowly backed him against a wall, leaned on him with my body and said "But when that time comes you better be ready. I'm a lot to handle. Think you can keep up with me?"

"You know I can," Pietro smirked as he wrapped his arms around my waist and gave me a squeeze.

Even with the way the house smells, I could still smell Pietro's prominent cologne. I grabbed the back of his head and leaned it down so his ear was next to my mouth. I gave a sultry chuckle and whispered "I bet you can. You're _so_ close to winning me over. Don't trip at the finish line." I wiggled out of his grip and walked toward the door leaving his arms vacant of my body. Pietro stood frozen in a daze of pure lust.

Kitty came down the stairs and said "I'm so relieved. He's awake."

"That's good to hear," I said. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah," Kitty said walking out of the door.

I locked eyes with Pietro, blew him a kiss, winked and said "Bye, Pietro" before following Kitty to my car. Even as I drove back to the mansion, I could still feel Pietro's attraction and lust for me as though he was sitting next to me.

A/N: Ooh, things are about to start bubbling over with those two! So how'd you like it? Hit the little review button and tell me! In the next chappie, Pietro gets help from a few famous people to get Mina to go out with him. Will she say yes or no? Read the next chappie and find out!


	12. It's About Time!

A/N: Here's the moment we've all been waiting for! {Drum roll sounds} Pietro _**finally**_ gets Mina to agree to go out with him! This chappie is dedicated to one of the smexiest bands alive! I LOVE YOU GUYS!ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution or any song used in this story, so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

It's About Time!

Me and the rest of the X-Men were walking down the hallway when I saw the poster that made my morning. It read:

Anarbor!

One Night Only!

the Washington Avenue Armory

Concert starts 8:00 P.M

Tickets on sale **now**!

"Oh my god!" I yelled as I ripped the poster off the wall and jumped up and down. "No way! No way! No way! I **need** to be at this concert!"

"Mina loves Anarbor," LaToya told the X-Men as they watched me practically bounce off the walls.

"Ve can see zhat," Kurt said.

"Uh-oh, short stuff," Anthony said.

"What do you mean 'uh-oh'?" I asked as I stopped jumping.

"Look at the date," Anthony said. "The concerts tonight."

"So?" I asked. "I can find tickets."

"_And_ it's all the way in Albany," Anthony said.

"I'll find a way to get there," I said.

"You don't know where anything is in New York," Anthony said. "_And_ you have zero sense of direction."

"Nu-huh!" I countered.

"Yes huh," Anthony said. "Remember what happened in middle school?"

"You can't hold that against me!" I said.

"What happened in middle school?" Scott asked.

"Well after we, er um, 'moved' out of our house into a new one, we had to walk home from school and I made the dumb mistake of letting Mina lead the way home," LaToya said.

"We got home didn't we?" I asked.

"Yeah," LaToya said. "After we ended up calling dad from eight blocks away!"

"Okay," I said. "Not my best moment but-"

"But nothing," Anthony said. "Sorry, sis but you're not going to that concert."

"Just watch me," I said. "Like I said before: I'll find a way to get there."

Just then the bell rang and I said "See y'all in lunch! Can't be late for my favorite class!"

Me, LaToya, Rogue and Kurt were all juniors now while Anthony, Scott and Jean were seniors and Kitty and Evan were sophomores. I didn't have _every_ class with Pietro just a few but hey I wasn't complaining. This year I had auto shop, English III, Trigonometry, and AP Chemistry with him. My other two classes were home-ec and music appreciation. I was headed to music appreciation which was probably my favorite class because it was so easy. All we had to do was sit around and sing all day and I'm a pretty great singer. I'm not the best in the class, but I definitely aint the worst. Throughout the whole class I sat around thinking how to get tickets and a ride to Albany but it as hard but it was easier said than done. Class ended and my next class was auto shop so hopefully seeing Pietro would lift my spirits.

"'Morning, Mr. Hackney," I greeted as walked into the shop garage.

"'Morning," he replied.

I walked toward my auto shop station and immediately got to work. The assignment was to fix up one of the teachers old cars and see if we could get it running again. I decided to work with the Brotherhood because even though they were huge selfish jerks they're still kinda likeable. And I use likeable in the loosest term possible.

'Except when it comes to Pietro,' a voice in my head said. 'You more than _just_ like him.' That voice in my head has been bugging me ever since my first day last semester but I've learned to almost completely ignore it now. Which was hard because it sounds _exactly_ like me.

I tried to open the hood of the car but it was heavy so Fred came over and easily flipped it open and pulled out the engine we're supposed to working on.

"Thanks," I said. I reached for the engine but someone caught my hand.

"What're you doing?" Pietro asked.

"Trying to take the busted spark plugs out," I replied as I reached in again. Once again Pietro caught my hand.

"Why do you keep doing that?" I asked exasperatedly. He pointed to my hands and I understand what he meant when I saw my hands were bare.

"You forgot your gloves," Pietro said. "And your goggles. I wouldn't want your beautiful hands and big brown eyes to get damaged, know would I?" He brought my hand close to his mouth and kissed it.

"You're such a womanizer," I said rolling my eyes and snatching my hand away. I started to walk away to get my gloves and goggles but Pietro stopped me again. "What now?"

"You didn't hit me," Pietro said.

"What?" I asked as I gave him a weird look.

"Every time I do something like that, you hit me," Pietro said. "How come you didn't do it this time? Wait! Don't tell me, I already know."

"Know what?" I asked.

"I'm wearing you down," Pietro smirked. "I knew the Maximoff charm would start working sooner than later. I told you no girl can resist."

I sighed and said "You're an ass," before getting my gloves and goggles. After putting them on, I walked back to the car and got back to work in silence. I was trying my hardest to think of a way to get to the concert but I had zero ideas. Fifteen minutes later, I was still thinking and working on changing those pesky spark plugs. I groaned in frustration as I tried and failed to find a suitable idea.

"What's wrong?" Pietro asked. "You seem kinda off today."

"Huh," I said zoned out. "Oh, uh nothing."

"There's something wrong because your quieter than your usual self," Pietro said. "By now you would've yelled at us for doing something stupid."

"I'm just thinking," I said.

"About me, no doubt," Pietro said arrogantly. "Only I can make a girl zone out like that."

"No not about you, Pietro," I weakly smiled. "I'm just a little bummed that Anarbor, one of my favorite bands, is playing a concert tonight and I don't have tickets or a ride to go."

"Where is it?" Pietro asked.

"Albany," I replied.

"That's so close!" Pietro said.

"Yeah, for you. I don't have super speed, quicky. Let's just forget about it, 'kay," I said sadly. Quickly brightening up, I changed the subject. "Hey, Lance, how're things with you and Kitty? She told me about the first date."

Lance blushed, pulled me to the side and said "It was nice. We met up for some pizza and talked a little. Thanks for telling her to give me a chance."

"Don't mention it," I dismissed. "I didn't really do anything. That was all you guys. Y'all are really cute together."

"You and Pietro seem to like each other," Lance said as I blushed and looked at the ground. "Why don't you two go out on a date?"

"Trust me, I actually _want_ to, " I said in a low whisper as I looked at Pietro.

"So why don't you?" Lance asked.

"Every time he asks me out, he does it in a narcissistic and arrogant way!" I said. "If it wasn't for that, yeah I'd go out on a date with him. So I want you to tell him if he _wants_ me to go out with him to ask me in the sweetest way he possibly can. If he can't, then he can just move on the next chick at Bayville. But he'll be missing out on a good thing."

Just then, the bell rang signaling the end of class. I pulled my gloves off and put them back in my workstation drawers and hung my goggles up. I yelled "Bye guys."

"So what did she say?" Pietro asked speeding up to Lance. After Lance retold our conversation, Pietro exclaimed "What!"

"Yeah," Lance said. "Just stop being an arrogant jackass when you ask her out and she'll go out with you."

"Well she'll just have to take it or leave it," Pietro said defiantly. "Because there is _plenty_ of other-"

"Pietro, swallow your damn pride for once!" Lance angrily interrupted. "And see if this girls actually worth it! For one reason or another, she's actually giving you a chance and Mina's unlike any other girl at this dump of a school so passing _her_ up would be the dumbest idea you've ever had. "

Pietro looked taken aback before a serious look flashed across his face and he sped out of the auto-shop garage. Lance sighed and rolled his eyes. He had a feeling Pietro was gonna find a way to mess this up. Lance left the garage to meet up with Kitty before class started.

* * *

Trigonometry went on as it usually did but I took full notice of Pietro's absence. He'd usually be bothering the crap out of me before the bell even rang and there was this empty kind of feeling with him tugging on my hair from the seat behind me. The bell rang and I went to my locker to see if Pietro was there. He wasn't. I headed to the lunch room and spotted Lance, Toad and Fred but no Pietro sitting at their usual spot.

"Hey Lance? Have you seen Pietro? I haven't seen him since auto shop and he wasn't in trig so I was just wondering if you knew where he was?" I asked. I quickly added "Not that I'm worried about him or anything! I'm just asking because he's my lab partner in chem."

Lance, who gave an unconvinced smirk, said "I don't where he is. If I see him, I'll make sure to tell him your close to pulling out your hair because you're worried about him."

"Who said I was worried about him?" I asked.

"Your face just told me all I needed to know," Lance aid.

"Tell him _anything_ about this and I'll torture you in ways that aren't even possible," I threatened as I put on my best intimidating face. "Or I could just tell Kitty some embarrassing secrets about you."

"You wouldn't," Lance said as he narrowed his eyes.

"Just try me," I said. We stared each other down until he looked him away.

"Fine!" Lance said. "I won't tell him anything."

"The same goes for you two," I said as I looked at Toad and Fred who both quickly nodded. "Glad y'all could see it my way. Enjoy your lunch boys."

I sauntered away and Toad said "That girl's devious, yo! She's perfect for Pietro!"

I got my lunch and sat down down with Anthony, LaToya and Talisa because I already knew that Scott, Jean and Evan were getting to get on my case about talking to the Brotherhood.

"Hey, sis," LaToya said. "Why were you talking to Lance and 'em?"

"Oh, no reason," I said. "Just talking 'bout stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" Anthony asked.

"Just stuff. Nothing important." I dismissed.

* * *

Trying to focus on Mr. McCoy's lesson plan for chemistry was hard especially because I had other things on my mind. Like the concert, my brother dating my best friend, why I don't have a boyfriend and more importantly where the hell Pietro was.

'I hope he's okay,' I thought as Mr. McCoy called my name.

"Ms. Wilson, will you reminding the class what's the value of Avogadro's Number?" Mr. McCoy said.

"Oh um it's 6.02 x 10²³," I replied.

"That's correct," Mr. McCoy said. "Glad to see you're paying attention."

'Damn,' I thought. 'That was a close one. I think I really do need to pay attention unless something like that happens again.'

The bell rang shortly after Mr. McCoy's lesson ended and the day went as usual. I went to English still no Pietro, then to home-ec with Kitty then the school day ended. And unfortunately I had thought of no idea to get to that Anarbor concert and with Pietro being gone the whole day he was clouding my mind so it's not like I would've thought of an idea anyway. I sighed heavily as Anthony drove me, LaToya and Rogue home.

"Still bummed?" Rogue asked.

"Yeah," I replied. "I mean how many other times will I get to see Anarbor?"

"I'm sure they'll be other chances," Rogue reassured.

"I sure hope so," I said as we pulled into the mansion. We got out of the car and walked into the mansion to be greeted with everyone crowded around something.

"What're y'all looking at?" LaToya asked. We made our through the crowd and saw a giant white and red teddy bear holding a red rose and a card.

"Aww," I said "It's so cute and furry!"

"Hey!" Kurt exclaimed. "I'm cute and furry, too!"

"Oh hush," I said playfully hitting him in the arm.

"Who's it for?" LaToya asked Ororo.

"It's for Semina," Ororo said looking at me. "It came while you were at school. It seems that you have a secret admirer."

"Really?" I blushed as everybody around me said 'ooh'. "Do you know who's it from?"

"It doesn't say," Ororo replied. "Here take a look."

" 'Meet me at the park around the corner at 8:00 P.M. I'll be waiting for you by the gazebo. Dress casual. Hope to see you and your gorgeous face there,' " I read aloud.

All the girls in the room, except Rogue, said 'Aww'.

"Looks like Mina's got a blind date," Anthony said rustling my hair before I swatted his hand away and smoothed my hair.

"That is like so romantic, " Kitty said. "Are you gonna go?"

"I don't know," I replied. "I'm a little skeptical about blind dates."

"You need to go," LaToya urged. "You haven't had a boyfriend since-"

"Don't. Say. His. Name," I said slowly. "I don't want to be reminded of him. And give me one reason why I should go."

"For all you know he could be the boy of your dreams!" Jean exclaimed.

"What if it's some creepy perv who's been stalking me through my bedroom window," I said.

"You watch too many horror movies," LaToya said. "Just go!"

"Fine! Fine! I'll go!" I said picking up the teddy bear and the rose and walking upstairs to my room. "If I'm not back by midnight, I'm probably dead. But when I'm a ghost, I'ma haunt all y'all asses. Just remember that."

* * *

"LaToya, vhy doesn't Mina vant to talk about her ex-boyfriend?" Kurt asked.

"Uh, excuse us," LaToya said pulling Kurt into the hallway away from everyone else. "I'm not really supposed to tell anyone what happened but you _are_ her best friend. Darnell, Mina's ex-boyfriend, was the _best_ boyfriend Mina's ever had. He was charming, sweet, smart and our parents actually liked him."

"So vhat happened?" Kurt said.

"He ended up cheating on her," LaToya said sadly. "She walked in on him and the other girl, you know, and it just broke her heart."

"How long ago vas zhat?" Kurt asked.

"A year and a half ago," LaToya replied. "She really hasn't been the same since. Hopefully, this blind date guy will be able to make Mina happy again."

"But Mina alvays looks happy," Kurt said.

"She's putting on a cover," LaToya said. "Trust me, you'll know when Mina's genuinely happy."

* * *

I put the teddy bear on a chair and walked over to my closet to choose an outfit. I had just started to sift through my closet when I heard a knock at the door.

"Come in!" I yelled. Without turning around I said " Hey Scott, hey Jean, hey Evan. Is this about what happened in lunch?"

"Yeah," Scott said. "What were you talking about with the Brotherhood?"

"Just some auto shop stuff," I lied. "Spark plugs and all that jazz. What else would we be talking about?"

"Just making sure," Scott said. "We're here to help in case they give you trouble."

"Thanks for the concern," I said pulling out a long-sleeved red top that I quickly threw on my bed. "They're not really that bad, though."

"Are you kidding?" Evan asked in disbelief. "Not that bad? Blob kidnapped Jean, Lance almost killed Kitty and you already know what Maximoff did to me and _you_."

"What did he do to Mina?" Jean asked.

"Nothing," I said, wanting to drop the subject. "It was no big deal."

"He pinned her to a set of lockers after detention on her first day of school," Evan said.

"And that's not a big deal to you?" Jean asked incredulously.

"Nope," I said plainly. "I had the situation under control."

"It didn't look like it, man," Evan said.

"Well it was," I said starting to get irritated. "Can we just drop it? I _do_ have a date to get ready for."

"Fine," Evan said. "Just don't let Maximoff get to you. He's a pretty good liar."

"Noted," I said as they walked out of my room. 'God, can a girl get any privacy around here?' But that part about Pietro being a liar was stuck in my head.

After throwing around clothes for an hour I had finally found a suitable outfit. A pair of silverish skinny jeans, a cut up black Anarbor 'Free Your Mind' album shirt and all black Nikes. Shortly after selecting my outfit, I showered and got dressed. I put on Aunt Viv's bracelet, a spiked collar bracelet and big silver hoops with skulls in them. I started to style my hair but couldn't find a suitable style, so I visited the resident hair expert: LaToya.

"Hey, Toya," I said as I got to her room. "Could you style my hair? I can't think of how I should put it."

"Come 'ere," she said as she gestured for me to come into her room.

LaToya walked to her drawer and pulled out a straightening iron. She plugged in it and told me to sit in the chair next to the outlet. She ran it through my hair a couple of times until my hair was completely straight. She pulled out a curling iron and curled the bottom of my hair toward my neck. She parted a part of my hair on the far right of my head and flipped a bang to the left side of my head.

"And voila," LaToya said as she stepped back to look at her masterpiece. "All done."

I walked to the mirror behind her door and looked in amazement. "Wow," I said. "You did a really good job. Good looking out, Toya."

"Anything for your first blind date," LaToya said. "It's thirty minutes to eight now. Tell me how it goes."

"I will," I said. "Wish me luck!" I walked back to my room to grab my phone and headed downstairs where I found Scott, Jean and Kurt walking past the stairs.

"See y'all later," I said as I got to the bottom of the stairs.

"Bye Mina," Kurt said.

"Be careful," Scott said.

"And have fun on your date," Jean said.

"Hopefully," I said disappearing out of the door. I decided to walk to the park because what's the point of driving if the park is so close. I got to the mansion gates and put my thumb on the scanner to open it.

_'Identity confirmed. Goodbye Semina Wilson,'_ the computerized voice said.

I stepped out of the gate and activated the mansion's security system with the code before I started down the street. The cool air felt nice on my face as I walked. I looked around and saw a couple of stores like flower shops and ice cream parlors.

'Why haven't I noticed those before? I've been here for months now,' I thought. 'Now let's see if I can guess my blind date. I can already rule out Pietro. He's too proud and too much of a pompous arrogant ass to think up something this sweet and romantic. Maybe it's that cute guy in my chem class. He always sneaks me little looks when he thinks I'm not looking. I guess I'll find out when I get there.'

I walked into the park and saw people with their families, couples on a romantic stroll and old people feeding the birds. I looked around and spotted the gazebo and cautiously walked toward it. When I stepped in, I saw there was no one in it. I looked down and saw a white sheet of paper. I picked it up and it read the three simple words: 'Hang on tight.'

"What's going on?" I thought aloud. "'Hang on tight?' The hell does that mean?"

I stepped out of the gazebo, felt my self being picked up and from there on it was a blur. I felt wind hitting my face and saw everything move past me at a fast pace. About a minute later, I was put down and looked around to try to see my surroundings. My vision was a little blurry and my head was spinning so it was difficult. I heard a lot of hysterical screaming and the sound of a guitar wailing. I closed my eyes and waited for everything in my body to settle. When I opened them, the first thing I saw was Pietro smirking at me.

"Pietro, what-?" I began until he whirled me around. I yelped in shock when I saw I was front row at the Anarbor concert watching the band play 'Always Dirty, Never Clean'.

"Holy shit!" I yelled."How did-? Why did-?"

"Just enjoy the concert, Mina," Pietro said wrapping his arm around my shoulders. I smiled and wrapped my arm around his shoulders too. Anarbor played almost every song off of the 'Free Your Mind' album _except_ my absolute favorite and the songs off of 'The Words You Don't Swallow' album. Right now, they were backstage for an intermission, so I took this time to talk to Pietro.

"Why'd you do all this?" I asked.

"You really wanted to go so I made it happen," Pietro said. "You can thank me incessantly now."

I ignored his audacious comment and asked "So that whole blind date thing was just a plot to get me out of the mansion?"

"Yep," Pietro said. "So this is kinda our first unofficial date."

"Unofficially, yeah," I asked. "So when are you actually gonna ask me out and not just kidnap me?"

Pietro smirked a knowing smirk and replied "Wait and you'll see."

The band played a few more songs before their lead singer Slade Echeverria, came to the mic and said "Okay folks. This is our last song of the night before we hop on our plane back to Arizona!"

I, along with every other person in the crowd, grimly groaned.

"And as a favor to a friend of mine," Slade began. "Can we get a spotlight on the front row?"

The spotlight came down and pointed themselves directly at us. Our faces came on the jumbo-tron and my eyes widened.

"Semina Wilson, will you go to the school carnival with Pietro Maximoff?" Slade asked.

Pietro had to steady myself because I was close to fainting. "You didn't?" I yelled in shock and disbelief.

"Yes I did," Pietro said. "So will you?"

"Oh my god! Yes!" I exclaimed as I hugged him tightly.

"She said yes!" Slade yelled into the mic. Everyone in the crowd loudly cheered. "This song is for you guys!" Anarbor started playing the intro to my favorite song of all time, 'You and I', and I nearly cried.

Without you, there's no reason for my story  
And when I'm with you I can always act the same  
Forever yeah if we're together  
We can make it better

"You and I"  
We never get to sleep we're up all day  
We're overworked and under paid  
You and I  
We're always stuck in repeat day by day  
Watching time drift away as we burn away

Without you, there's no reason for my story (oh oh)  
And when I'm with you I can always act the same  
Forever yeah if we're together  
We can make it better

"You and I"  
We've never felt so right  
That just might be just what I need  
(To get me through the night)  
You and I  
We're the perfect fit you've got me hooked  
So then I could never quit, I just burn away

Without you, there's no reason for my story (oh oh)  
And when I'm with you I can always act the same  
Forever, yeah if we're together  
We can make it better

Oh-oh ooooh oh-oh oooh  
Oh-oh ooooh oh-oh oooh

Without you, there's no reason for my story  
And when I'm with you I can always act the same  
Forever yeah if we're together  
We can make it, We can make it  
Without you, there's no reason for my story  
And when I'm with you I can always act the same  
Forever yeah if we're together  
We can make it, We can make it

Without you, there's no reason for my story  
And when I'm with you I can always act the same  
Forever, yeah if we're together  
We can make it better

Oh-oh ooooh oh-oh oooh  
Oh-oh ooooh oh-oh oooh

By the last guitar note I was a raging blizzard of emotions. I couldn't believe, of all people, that _Pietro_ went to all this trouble just to ask me out. Nobody has _ever_ gone to all this trouble for me so I was actually at a loss for words. Sure he didn't technically ask me himself but how could I say no? It was _the_ most sweetest thing he's possibly ever done in his entire life.

"Good night, Albany!" Slade yelled into the mic as he and the rest of the band ran off the stage.

"Oh my god!" I yelled happily. I was on a concert high and I felt like I was walking on air. "That was incredible!"

"Ready to head back to Bayville?" Pietro asked as we walked outside the stadium.

"Hmm-hmm," I answered as he picked me up and sped us back to the park. 'That's gonna take some getting used to,' I thought as my head settled. He tried to put me down but I wouldn't budge.

"What's wrong?" Pietro asked.

"Nothing," I replied as I tightened my grip around him and rested my head on his chest. "Just enjoying my position here."

"I can show you some other positions if you want," Pietro said with a lecherous twinkle in his eyes.

"Okay, you can put me down now," I quickly said hopping out of his arms. I hit him in the arm and said "You're such a perv."

"Oh, so that's how you wanna be," Pietro said rubbing his arm. "And I was just about to buy you some ice cream, but now you can forget it."

"I don't need any ice cream," I insolently said turning my back toward him.

We were at a stalemate before Pietro sighed and asked "Wanna get some ice cream?"

"Yes!" I instantly replied. We walked out of the park and headed toward the ice cream parlor. Pietro held the door open like a gentlemen and I blushed and giggled at how sweet he was acting. The first thing I smelled as I entered the shop was the cold and sickly sweet smell of the ice cream. I looked at the menu and picked my favorite flavor. "Can I have one small cone of chocolate-vanilla swirl? Oh and with sprinkles."

"Make that two," Pietro said pulling out his wallet.

"That'll be $4.05," the old clerk said. She wistfully sighed and asked "First date?"

"Sorta," I smiled as I looked at Pietro. "But it _will_ be the first of many."

"I remember when I was young," the woman said as she passed us our cones. "Have fun you two!"

"Thank you!" I said as we left the shop. We walked along in silence until I said "So how'd you do it?"

"Do what?" Pietro asked as he licked at his ice cream cone.

"All of it," I said. "The teddy bear, the concert, convincing Slade to do you a favor?" How did you do it? _Why_ did you do it?"

"Can't tell you that," Pietro said. "Just be happy I did it."

I huffed and said "Fine, don't tell me. If it was illegal, I wouldn't want to know anyway."

"I wasn't planning on telling you in the first place," Pietro said.

I rolled my eyes at his defiant smirk and tried to contain the smile that was tugging at the corners of my mouth. 'He's so cute when he smirks.'

"So you went to all this trouble just to ask me out?" I asked.

"Yeah," Pietro said. "Lance told me what you said and I figured I could swallow my enormous pride. But just this one time, though. Don't expect me to always do something this elaborate on every date."

"Wow, I feel _so_ special," I said sarcastically as I saw we had arrived at the mansion. I put an arm in front of Pietro and stopped him from walking any further. "You should stop here. We got camera's almost everywhere."

"Oh," Pietro said.

"Thanks for the best unofficial first date I've ever been on," I said. "You seem like you've put a lot of practice into making your dates memorable."

"Well I'm known for being the best at everything I do," Pietro said. "Especially kissing."

I chuckled and said "If you manage to get a kiss out of me on our _official_ date, I'll be looking forward to it."

"Well," Pietro began. "I'm looking forward to it, too."

"Can I see your phone for a second?" I asked.

"Why?" Pietro asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Just let me see it," I said. "I'm not gonna go through your phone. You can trust me."

"Umm, sure," Pietro said unsurely. I looked at his wallpaper which a picture of himself sexily smirking. I giggled as I put in my number and called my phone with it. Pietro picked up my phone and saved his number.

"There now we have each others numbers. Text me sometime," I said giving him a long and lingering hug which he gladly returned. We clung to each other for a moment before releasing from our embrace. We both kinda blushed a slight shade of pink because we both realized that we'd been hugging for a while. "I'll, um, see you at the carnival."

"Does this mean I don't get a kiss now?" Pietro asked.

"Good night, Pietro," I chuckled as I walked toward the mansions gate.

"'Night, Mina," Pietro said before speeding toward the Brotherhood house.

I put my thumb on the scanner and the computerized voice said _'Welcome back, Semina Wilson,'_ before opening the gate and closing it behind me. I pulled my phone out and looked at the time that read '11:42'.

'Awesome,' I thought. 'I made it home before midnight.'

I licked at my ice cream cone as I opened the door to the mansion and found LaToya, Jean and Kurt standing around waiting for me.

"How vas it?" Kurt asked.

"Was he cute?" LaToya asked.

"Is there going to be a second date?" Jean asked.

"The date was amazing, he was beyond cute and yes there's definitely going to be a second date," I replied. "And here. Just take it." I shoved my half finished at LaToya who let out a 'yay!' She's been eyeing it ever since I came in the door.

"He must really be something," Jean said.

"He is," I grinned before I yawned. "Ooh, wow. I guess I'm a little worn out. I'm gonna head up to bed."

"Wait!" LaToya yelled."Who was he?"

"That, I can't tell you," I said. "Not yet."

"Vhy not?" Kurt asked.

"I have to see if he's right for me or not," I said walking up the stairs. "And I really hope he is."

As I walked toward my room, I recounted what happened at the concert and found myself in a daze while thinking about Pietro.

"Hey!" I exclaimed as I suddenly I felt someone grab my hand and yanked me through a door. "What was that about?"

"So, Mina," Rogue began with a sly smile. "How was your date with Pietro?"

A blush crept onto my cheeks as I asked "What do mean? Who said anything about Pietro?"

"Like just admit it," Kitty said. "We know it was Pietro who sent the stuff."

"And how would you know that?" I asked. "It could've been anybody."

"Lance told me," Kitty said.

"_And_ we know you have a thing for Pietro," Rogue said.

"No I don't!" I lied.

"Yes ya do," Rogue said. "I've absorbed your mind before, remember?

"On top of that, Lance told me you make ga-ga eyes at him during auto-shop," Kitty snickered. I made a mental note to personally torture Lance at school on Monday.

"That proves nothing," I said.

"And I absorbed Pietro's mind," Rogue said. "And he really likes you too."

"He does!" I semi-yelled. I took note of their smug faces and coolly said "You know, not that I care."

"Mina, you don't have to cover it up," Kitty said. "Even though he's totally a super mega arrogant jerk faced smart alack, it looks like he could make you happy. You haven't stopped smiling or blushing since I pulled you in here!"

"And ya can't hide tha fact that ya smell just like his favorite cologne," Rogue added.

"Okay fine," I said defeated. I blushed and said "I like him alright and he took me out. Big deal. You guys won't tell anyone will you?"

"Of course not," Rogue said. "Pietro may be a pain but he's actually pretty sweet. Somewhere deep, deep, _**deep**_ down under all that arrogance."

"And why would we ruin it for you?" Kitty asked. "Now we can double date!"

"Thanks, guys," I said. "I'm trusting you guys with this secret."

"Got it," they said.

"Now tell us about the date," Kitty eagerly said. "And don't skimp on the deets!"

"Okay, okay," I said as I began to tell the story about my 'blind date'.

Outside the door

'I knew it!' Evan thought as he heard our conversation through the door. 'I have to stop Mina from going out with that jerk before it's too late.'

A/N: Aw, come on Evan! Stop trying to cock block! So how'd you like it? Click the little review button and tell me! In the next chappie, we see Mina and Pietro's carnival date.


	13. The Carnival

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

The Carnival

During the championship soccer game a few months ago, the gym had caught on fire so Principal Kelly thought it would be a great idea if we had a carnival fundraiser to help rebuild it. Which is a good thing because without a gym there was no cheerleading practice. But that also meant that I was stuck at the mansion every day after school doing nothing but training, like right now. Me, Kurt, Logan and Scott were at the side of the cliff located behind the mansion teaching the New Mutants how to rescue an injured victim. Scott led the rescue, Kurt was the injured victim, Tabitha was the rescuer, Logan was overseeing the session and I was there just in case anything went wrong because hey, we're next to the ocean. Who'd be a bigger help than me?

"Okay, recruits," I said."Now below we see an injured victim and we're going to have Boom-Boom over there try to rescue him in the safest way possible." I lifted my wrist and through my X-Men communicator, that doubled as a really cute bracelet, and asked "You all set down there, Nightcrawler?"

"Ready," Nightcrawler replied.

"You got the green light, Cyclops," I said to Scott. "Let's get this rescue under way."

Scott repelled down the side of the cliff and the session started. The New Mutants looked over the cliff and I walked toward my sister and whispered "So did you ask him?"

"Yep," LaToya whispered back. "He said yes!"

"Finally!" I exclaimed quietly. "Its about time you and Kurt get together."

"I know right!" LaToya said. "And it's about time and Pietro got together."

"Shh!" I said. "Logan might hear you!"

Being my older sister, LaToya knew how to bug the living crap out of me to the point where I had to tell her about my blind date. I did, however, make her swear to never tell anyone about it. But I am worried 'cause LaToya has a little problem called 'diarrhea at the mouth' where she has a tendency to let secrets slip out.

"That man must have the best hearing in the world!" LaToya said.

Just then I heard, Boom-Boom yell "Yeah! Look out below! Boom-Boom's bombing in! Whoo-hoo!" so I looked over the side of the cliff and saw her wildly swing around with the rescue basket.

I just sighed and shook my head. I watched her blow up the rocks that Nightcrawler was buried under and thought 'Okay, goodish so far.'

"Yo, Badger!" Boom-Boom yelled. "Tug us up!"

"It's Wolverine," Logan gruffly replied.

While Stone and Sunspot tugged the ropes to pull up the basket, I watched Nightcrawler purposely roll out of the basket just to teleport right back to him.

"Hey!" I yelled into my communicator. "Keep it professional down there!"

Boom-Boom started rocking the basket back and forth while throwing some of her energy bombs into the cliff.

"Knock it off!" Wolverine yelled.

They continued swinging until Nightcrawler hit his head on the cliff and fell off the basket. Cyclops shot a beam at the rocks below him, so Nightcrawler wouldn't get hurt. Wolverine immediately jumped into the water after him and pull him up to stop him from drowning. I put my hands out in front of me, brought them down then up and made a huge wave that brought Wolverine and Nightcrawler back to where we were standing. Wolverine laid him down and I shoved past him to get to Kurt. I knelt beside him and put my hand on his chest. There was some water in his lungs, so I carefully guided my hands upwards toward his mouth to release it. It came out in a long thin stream and I discarded it behind me. Kurt started coughing and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you okay?" I asked in worry.

"I'm fine," Kurt said rubbing the back of his head.

"Good," I said as I began to hit him. "If you ever do something stupid like that again, I'm going to kick your fuzzy blue ass! Got that!" With every word, I gave him a hard hit in the arm.

"Okay! Okay!" Kurt said. "Just stop hitting me!"

"We're not done talking, Kurt," I said.

"And as for you," Wolverine said to Tabitha. "I'm gonna let the professor deal with you."

"Okay everyone," Scott said. "Let's head back inside. This training session is over."

We all walked toward the mansion in stony silence until we reached the sub levels where the professor was. He gave Kurt and Tabitha their punishment and LaToya loudly exclaimed "Oh man! Way to go, Kurt!" before she stormed out of the door with the rest of the recruits.

"What's her problem?" Scott asked as we walked to the elevator.

"Kurt was supposed to take her to the carnival tonight," I said.

"Really?" Kitty said. "How'd that happen?"

"Well, you know how they like each other right?" I asked. Kitty nodded. "I've been bitchin' at LaToya to ask Kurt out, so when she asked him of course he said yes. So are you going to the carnival, Kitty?"

"Nah, carnivals aren't really my thing," Kitty said. "What about you?"

"Um, yeah," I said blushing. "I have a date."

"With who?" Scott asked. "Is it the same guy from your blind date?"

"Yeah," I smiled. "Turns out he's a pretty sweet guy."

"When are we going to meet this mystery man?" Scott asked.

"When I think you guys can handle it," I said.

"What makes you think we can't handle it now?" Scott asked.

"Because," I said motioning for him to bend down toward me. I ruffled his hair and said "When it comes to the X-Girls and dating, your the overprotective big brother that annoys the crap out of us but we love you anyway."

(Yeah and Scott would like totally flip if he found out it was Pietro), Kitty telepathically said.

(I think his head would turn redder than his eyes), I replied as we shared a laugh as Scott looked at us with an inquisitive look.

After the elevator landed on the mansions level, we all exited and went to our rooms to get dressed. I walked toward my room and saw Kurt walk out his room. He spotted me and turned to get back inside of his room to avoid anymore hits.

"I don't think so," I said as I made a water lasso from the surrounding air and roped him into it. He struggled in it but I kept a tight grip on him. "We need to talk. And don't even think of 'porting away or I'll shave your fur off while you sleep."

"Okay, okay!" Kurt said as he stopped squirming.

"Why did you have to get in trouble today of all days?" I asked. "Do you know how much my sister was looking toward to you and her going to the carnival? She's so disappointed now."

"She is?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah," I said. "She has a huge crush on you. Why do you think she asked you to the carnival?"

"She does?" Kurt exclaimed with wide eyes and a blush. Is this news to him?

"Yeah," I said. "Haven't you noticed how she kinda blushes and smiles when she's around you?"

"Um, no," Kurt said.

"It amazes me what little you know about us females, Kurt," I laughed.

"Hey, I know plenty," Kurt retorted. "Chicks dig zhe fuzzy dude!"

"LaToya does," I smirked. "So what do _you_ think of her?"

Kurt blushed, looked at the ground and quietly said "Vell she's very pretty and smart, too."

"Good, good," I said. "What else?"

"Vhen she smiles I always notice the little dimples in her cheek," Kurt said as he imagined her face. "And she's kinda funny."

"So as _your_ best friend and _her_ sister, I say go after her!" I said. "You guys would be so cute together."

"Vell, okay," Kurt said with confidence in his voice. "I think I will."

"Awesome," I said as I released the lasso around his arms and said "Hey do you need a ride to school? Scotts taken off already and Anthony went to go pick up Talisa and drive her to school with LaToya."

"Sure," Kurt replied. "Can ve stop for a Gut Bomb on zhe vay?"

"What's a Gut Bomb?" I asked. "Is it food or something?"

A look of genuine shock graced Kurt's face before he exclaimed "Mein gott! You've never tried one?"

"No, I've never heard about it 'til now," I said.

"Hurry up and get dressed!" Kurt said pushing me toward my room. "You need to eat one!"

"Okay, okay! Just stop pushing me!" I yelled as I stumbled into my room. I quickly stripped off my X-Men suit and put on a yellow dress that stopped just above my knees and slipped on a pair of yellow and black wedged sandals. I finished the outfit with a pair of black triangle shaped earrings and Aunt Viv's bracelet. I grabbed my car keys and put them in my pocket as I placed my phone, iPod and wallet in my school bag.

"I'm ready, Kurt!" I said as I exited my room. He put his hand on my shoulder and we teleported to the front seat of my car. I plugged in my iPod and started the car. I waited for the garage to open before I back out and left the mansion grounds.

"Okay, take a left at zhe next stop sign, zhen keep going straight and you'll see it on zhe right," Kurt instructed.

I followed his instruction and arrived at a wooden restaurant building and pulled into the drive thru. I ordered a fruit and yogurt parfait, three Breakfast Burger Gut bombs [one for me and two for Kurt] with two sides of hash browns and two large orange juice cartons. I paid for the food and sped off to Bayville High. The smell of beef and cheese made my mouth water with anticipation of the first bite. I parked my car and me and Kurt gathered the food and walked over to where the rest of the X-Men were in the commons* area outside. Me and Kurt sat down and placed our food on the table.

"No, LaToya," I said unwrapping my Gut Bomb. "You can't have any."

"Why not?" LaToya whined.

"Did you pay for this?" I asked smugly. Her silence was my answer. "Nah, I aint think so." I brought the burger up to mouth and took a bite of the juicy burger. The combination of the burger, melted cheese and the fried egg on top sent my taste buds into overdrive.

"So, vhat do you think?" Kurt inquired.

"Wow," I said as I swallowed the first bite. "You weren't lying! This burger is where it's at!"

"I told you," Kurt said.

I devoured the burger in a few more bites then as I tried to take a bite of my hash brown, I felt the Gut Bomb drop into my stomach like a pile of bricks.

"Oh," I said as I clutched my stomach.

"Vhat's vrong?" Kurt asked in concern.

"Now I know why they call it a 'Gut Bomb'," I said. "I don't I can eat anything else right now."

I pushed my hash browns and parfait away and LaToya happily picked them up.

"Greedy," Anthony said shaking his head.

"More like lucky," Talisa said. "Look at her!"

"What about me?" LaToya asked.

"You eat whatever you want and they end up in the best places!" Talisa said.

"Where?" LaToya asked.

"Your ass!" me and Talisa exclaimed at the same time.

"It's huge!" I said. "Puts my own to shame."

"Now that aint true!" LaToya argued. "Kurt, my ass isn't _that_ big is it?" LaToya got up and turned around so that her butt was in full view of Kurt.

Kurt turned a shade of candy apple red and stammered "Uh, well I-I-I'm, um."

I reached up and covered Kurt's eyes and said "LaToya! Stop trying to traumatize Kurt!"

Just then the bell rang and Kurt said "Vell zhats zhe bell! Gotta go!" Kurt took off toward the building at a speed that could rival even Pietros!

"See that," Anthony said shaking his head. "Done scared the poor boy off. Come on, Lisa. I'll walk you to class."

"Oh, what a gentlemen," Talisa smiled as she slipped her hand into his. "See you later, guys!"

"I still can't used to that," I shuddered. "Now back to you, Toya. Kurt's a shy boy from Germany. He's not used to girls literally throwing their asses in his face. He already knows you like him so stop trying so hard to get his attention."

"Who told him that?" LaToya asked. "That was a secret!"

"Since when?" me and everyone else asked in unison.

"You all knew?" LaToya asked in shock.

"It's kinda obvious," Scott said as Jean nodded her head in agreement.

"Totally," Kitty said.

"We've been waiting for you guys to go out, man," Evan said.

"Wow, do I feel dumb right now," LaToya said turning red. "I'm gonna go to class and hide my shame in a textbook."

We all dispersed to class and the day went on as usual. After trig, I walked to my locker to get some money out of my wallet for lunch. When I arrived at my locker, I saw the blonde haired monster that terrorizes me on a daily basis at cheer practice. At least she was leaning on Pietro's locker and not mine. I sighed and rolled my eyes at the sight of her.

'Just ignore her,' I reminded myself as I reached my locker. I opened my locker and smiled at the inside. There were pictures of me and my family, everyone at the institute and posters of Anarbor. I reached into my locker and pulled out my bag. I took out my wallet and pulled out six singles for lunch.

"There you are, Pietro!" Misty exclaimed in her high-pitched mouse voice. "I've been waiting for you!"

"Why?" Pietro asked.

"Well," Misty began as she twirled her blonde hair between her fingers. "Since _your_ the hottest guy in school and _I'm_ the hottest girl in school-"

"Ha!" I laughed out loud.

Misty shot me a glare before continuing "-I figured we should go to the carnival together."

'Pietro better not say yes or he can forget about me _ever_ going out with him,' I thought awaiting his answer.

"I'd love to-," Pietro said. My head snapped toward him and a hurt look befell my eyes. Misty began to squeal before Pietro held up a hand to stop her "-is what I'd normally say if I didn't have a date with someone _way_ hotter than you."

"What!" Misty screamed. "But that's impossible! Nobody has ever turned _me_ down before!"

"Well, I just did," Pietro smirked as he crossed his arms.

"But-," Misty began to protest before I cut her off.

"Give it a rest, Misty," I said. "He said 'no', so you should leave before you lose what little dignity you had left."

"Stay out of this, loser," Misty snapped. "It's none of your business."

"It's not," I agreed. "But it could be the schools soon."

"What do you mean?" Misty asked.

"I could always, I don't know, go around school telling everyone that Misty Benson, Bayville's head cheerleader extraordinaire, just got turned down by Pietro Maximoff," I said. "I couldn't imagine what that would do for you precious little reputation."

"You can't be serious!" Misty yelled.

"Maybe I am," I said. "Or maybe I'm not."

Misty huffed angrily before she stormed down the hallway toward the cafeteria.

"Wow, blackmail," Pietro said leaning next to me. "I'm impressed. Gorgeous and manipulative. I knew I made a good choice asking you out."

"Um, thanks," I said blushing and looking away. 'Why am I acting so shy?'

"Is that you?" Pietro asked gesturing toward the picture of me when I was younger in my locker.

"Yeah," I replied. "That's me when I was eleven. It was a year before I got my powers."

"Wow," Pietro marveled. "Your head was huge!"

I hit him in the arm and laughed. "Shut up! I know I had a big head."

"And Anthony was so scrawny," Pietro said. "It's hard to believe he got so big."

"That's not Anthony," I sadly said as I stared at the picture. "That's Andre. He and Anthony were almost identical twins but Andre had hazel eyes instead of brown ones. The picture was taken a few months before he died. It was the last one he ever took."

"Oh," Pietro said. " I'm sorry. I-"

"You don't need to apologize," I said closing my locker. "It's just a bit of a sore subject. So when and where do you want to meet tonight?"

"Uh, well meet me at the Brotherhood house at around 7:30 P.M and I'll run us over to the carnival," Pietro said.

"Sounds great," I smiled. "But you do remember I have car right?"

"I remember," Pietro said. "But this way I get to have you in my arms."

"Aren't you the charmer," I chuckled. "Well, when you put it that way, how could I refuse?"

"I knew you'd see it my way, Mina," Pietro said. "You were practically ready to live in my arms on Friday."

"I was not!" I retorted. "It was just really comfortable there."

"Ah ha!" Pietro exclaimed. "Admit you love being in my arms!"

"As soon as you admit you love having me there," I countered. "Or is the great Pietro Maximoff afraid that he has feelings for someone other than his reflection?"

"I'm not afraid," Pietro said. I started laughing when a silly realization hit me. "What's so funny?"

"I just realized how stubborn we are," I said as I laughed. "We obviously both like each other but neither of us are willing to admit it out loud."

"There's nothing to admit," Pietro said as he crossed his arms.

"Oh, cut the crap, Pietro," I said. "Rogue absorbed you at Asteroid M. She told me how you felt."

Pietro's cheeks flashed a light shade of pink but he kept his stern expression on. I sighed and rolled my eyes before I uncrossed his arms and wrapped them around me. I tightly wrapped my arms around his back, buried my face in chest and calmly waited for him to give in to his emotions. After what felt like an eternity, I felt his strong arms return my embrace.

"I told you," I said smugly. "You can't resist me."

"And you can't resist me," Pietro said.

"I just remembered something," I said as I began to chuckle again.

"What?" Pietro said.

"We're missing lunch," I said laughing.

"We are?" Pietro asked.

"Yeah, we've been in the hallway forever now," I said.

"Then let's go get something to eat," Pietro said. He deeply bowed and said "After you mi'lady."

"Why thank you," I said as I fake curtseyed. We laughed and headed to the cafeteria but when we reached the door, the bell rang.

"Damn it!" we said at the same time. We exchanged a look before laughing some more.

I sighed and said "Might as well head to chemistry."

"Or we take the next lunch," Pietro suggested.

"That works too," I said. "But what about class?"

"I'm sure Mr. McCoy won't mind," Pietro said.

"But just to be sure, come with me," I said pulling him down the hallway by the arm. We got to the chemistry room and I spotted Mr. McCoy standing outside of the door.

"I am so sorry, Mr. McCoy," I groveled.

"Whatever for, Ms. Wilson?" Mr. McCoy asked.

"I asked Pietro for some help with my trigonometry homework and we lost track of time," I said. "We ended up missing lunch and I feel like it's my fault."

(Play along, Pietro), I telepathically urged.

"Yeah, is there anyway we can get today's assignment now and maybe take this lunch?" Pietro asked.

"Well, I'm not supposed to," Mr. McCoy said unsurely. "But I don't see why not. I'm happy to see students using lunch time for educational purposes. Wait right here and I'll get your work."

"Thank you so much," I said.

"Here you go," Mr. McCoy said as he handed me and Pietro our assignments. "It's fairly simple. If you have any questions you can see me after class or after school."

"Thanks again, Mr. McCoy," I said as me and Pietro headed back to the cafeteria.

"Wow, I underestimated you," Pietro marveled. "I thought you were actually going to drag me to class."

"In this case, lunch was the bigger subject here," I said.

"What about eating lunch with the sexiest guy at Bayville?" Pietro remarked arrogantly.

I gave him a playful shove and quoted his line at the beach "Well that was just a bonus. But consider yourself lucky. I don't skip class for just _anyone_."

"I guess that makes me special then," Pietro said.

"I guess it does," I quietly said with a smile.

* * *

After school ended, I drove myself and Kurt home. I felt sadness radiating off of him, so I decided to cheer him up.

"Hey, Kurt, you see that brown paper bag in the backseat next to my school bag?" I asked.

"Ja," Kurt replied.

"Because your so bummed about not being able to go to the carnival, you can have what's inside," I said.

Kurt retrieved the bag from behind him and opened it up. He instantly perked up at the sight of what was inside.

"Is this-?" Kurt began.

"Yup," I replied. "Double fudge chocolate cake _with_ peanuts. I made it and home-ec and since I don't eat whole peanuts, I figured you could have it."

"Danke, Mina," Kurt said as he unwrapped the plastic from the slice of cake on a paper plate. He took out the plastic fork and took a bite. "Mmm, Das ist köstlich*."

"I don't speak German but judging by the look on your face I take it you like it," I laughed. I pulled into the mansion and parked my car in the driveway. Kurt and I got out of the car and as we made our way toward the door, we heard someone yell "Hey, blue!" and we turned around to see Tabitha running toward Kurt.

"I'll catch up with you later, Mina," Kurt said.

"Okay," I said as I walked inside. As if on cue, Sasha scampered down the hallway to greet me as soon as I closed the door. "Hey, Sasha. Do you want so lunch?"

A happy bark came as my response. "Let's get some lunch, then."

Halfway to the kitchen, I heard the doorbell ring so I yelled "I got it!" and doubled back to the door. I opened it and saw a man, around his late 30's early 40s, in orangeish shirt patiently waiting. Despite the calm look in his face, something was off about him and Sasha noticed it too so she began to growl.

'Damn, look at the body on her,' the man thought loudly and lewdly. "Even better than my Tabby's."

A disgusted look crossed my face for a moment before I feigned a normal look. "Hi, how can I help you?" I asked through a forced smile in the most polite way possible. It was taking everything in my power not to punch this guy in the face.

"Yes, I'm looking for my daughter, Tabitha Smith," the man said. "I need to speak with her."

"If you want to see her you're going to have to speak with Professor Xavier first," I forced out.

"Well where is he?" the man rudely asked. "I don't have all day."

"Oh, I'll tell you where he is," I said. "He's right up your-"

"Semina!" Professor X cut in. "That's quite enough. I'll take it from here."

I angrily huffed and said "Fine."

(Be careful around this guy, prof), I telepathically said. (Something aint right about him.)

I irritatedly trudged up the stairs but stopped at the railing to eavesdrop on their conversation. Something about Boom-Boom and how her dad had no parental rights, it was a boring conversation until Mr. Smith made the dumb mistake of putting his hands on the Professor. I was just about to send some psychic blasts at him but Logan came in and intervened. Already knowing that Logan could handle this guy, I headed to my room and set Sasha down on her fluffy pink doggy bed. I was still slightly aggravated by Tabitha's perverted dad, so I changed into a black sports bra, a pair of gray shorts and black sneakers then headed down to the Danger Room to blow off some steam and maybe break some stuff.

"Come on, Sasha," I said as I exited my room and headed to Anthony's room. I knocked on the door and waited for him to answer.

"What do you want, short stuff?" Anthony asked as he leaned against the door frame.

"Can you watch and feed Sasha for me?" I asked sweetly.

"Why should I?" he asked.

"Because I'm your sister and you love me," I said. "And your the bestest big brother in the world!"

"Why don't you ask someone else?" Anthony whined. For an eighteen year old, he still whines like he's five.

"I don't wanna bother them," I said. "I can bother you because you're family."

"Ugh, fine," Anthony said. "But you owe me for this!"

I gave his a sloppy wet kiss on his cheek and said 'thank you' before running off. I already knew he was fervently wiping off his cheek without even bothering to turn around and look. He absolutely hates when I do that. I took the elevator to the sub-levels and when I reached the Danger Room and stepped in the middle of the metal room.

"Computer, activate Tsunami's practice run SW52," I yelled at the control booth. I had set up a variety of training sessions that could help me practice my hydrokinesis and telekinesis. I would gone for a higher level but I'm not allowed to activate the lasers or the buzzsaws without someone supervising me.

"Activating," the computerized voice responded. In front of me, part of the floor opened up and a giant tub of water rose from it.

"Begin simulation," I said.

Tiny metal orbs descended from atop the Danger Room and headed straight for me. I sent a wave of water at them, froze the orbs and smashed them against the walls with my powers. After they all exploded, I drew more water from the tub and coated my sneakers and around my wrists with it. This way I could easily maneuver around the Danger Room like I'm flying. The rest of the water I wrapped around my waist. With the aid of of the water, I flew up in the middle of the Danger Room just in time for the tentacles with claws attached to them came out. I smirked confidently then coated both my hands in water. I spun around in the air and as I spun I cut the tentacles with the water and gracefully landed on the ground after I had taken them all out. The last part of my session consisted of basic weight-lifting with my telekinesis. I had managed to lift five pounds on my own, so I saw no harm in trying to for a little more. Five metal ball the size of cantaloupes came from the ground and sat in a neat line in front of me. I put one hand to my temple, stretched the other out in front of me and concentrated on one of the spheres. It slightly rattled but after a moment it ascended into the air. I made it go higher and higher until it was level with my eyes. As I kept the first sphere floating, I began to focus on the one next to it. Despite the little weight of the spheres it was taking all of my energy to try to lift two at the same time. I struggled and tried as hard as I could and just when I thought I was getting nowhere the second ball finally started to rattle and shake. I focused on my concentration and after what seemed like an eternity, both of the balls started floating in the air.

"Yes!" I yelled in disbelief. This brief celebration, however, caused me to lose my concentration and the balls fell to the floor. "End simulation!"

The Danger Room returned to normal and I slowly walked out of the room. I panted in exhaustion as I slumped down in the elevator that took me back to the mansion.

'Not a bad day's work,' I thought happily. 'But I'm _so_ tired! First thing I'm gonna do when I get to my room is shower and take a nap before my date.'

The elevator reached the mansion level and I dragged myself out of it and slowly walked to my room.

"Whoa, what happened to you?" Rogue said as she saw me come down the hallway.

"Just came from the Danger Room," I panted heavily. I wiped my forehead and said "I'm fine."

"Are you okay?" Kitty asked as she stepped outside of the room she shared with Rogue.

I gave a thumbs up because my mouth was starting to go dry. I pantomimed myself drinking from a glass and Kitty quickly understood. She ran downstairs and quickly came back with a bottle of water. I gladly took it and downed it in three large gulps.

"Ah! Thank you so much," I thanked. "I'm gonna go take a shower. I might scare off you know who if I show up smelling like this."

I walked to my room down the hall and immediately peeled off my clothes to hop in the shower. The hot water felt nice against my aching muscles. After scrubbing the dirt, sweat and grime off of my skin and hair I quickly dried off, tightly wrapped my sopping wet hair in a towel and slipped on my black nightgown. I figured some sleep wouldn't hurt and it was after all just 4:42 P.M.

_Two hours and eighteen minutes later_

I wiped the sleep from my eyes and stretched my arms out. I groggily sat up in bed and took in my surroundings.

'Oh yeah,' I remembered. 'I did fall asleep after my session in the Danger Room.'

I looked at the clock and with wide eyes I let out an ear piercing scream. Everyone came running toward my room and looked inside.

"What's wrong?" Logan asked as he came in with his adamantium claws extended.

"Are you being attacked?" Scott asked.

"Are you hurt?" Kurt asked.

"Maybe she saw her reflection in the mirror," Anthony snickered.

"Why didn't anyone wake me up!" I yelled. "I have a date in less than thirty minutes! Wait! What do you mean by my reflection?"

I scrambled to the bathroom and let out another scream at the sight of myself in the mirror. My hair towel untied itself while I was sleeping so my hair had tangled and knotted up, there were dark circles under my eyes and a long trail of drool going from my mouth to my shoulder. I slumped to the floor and began to weep.

"I can't go out looking like this!" I sobbed. "I look like a monster!"

"No you don't," Anthony reassured. I smiled at him before he said "You look much, _much_ worse."

"You're not making it any better!" I yelled as I threw my hairbrush at him with my telekinesis. "Great now I'm gonna have to cancel! There's no way I'll be ready in time."

"Not unless we help you," LaToya offered. "I aint going anywhere tonight."

"Neither am I," Kitty said. "We'll help you get ready."

"You would?" I sniffled. "Y'all have some work cut out for you though."

"Nothing we can't handle," LaToya said. "Now get off the floor and let us to get to it. The rest of y'all can leave. We don't need anyone crowding around. Except for you, Rogue. We need all the help we can get."

I pulled myself off the floor and they quickly got to work on me. LaToya wiped the drool off with a wet cloth and immediately got to work on untangling and styling my hair. Rogue went to my closet and pulled out the outfit I had laid out for my date: a black and red corseted tube top with black lace running up the back, black skinny jeans and a pair of black ankle high boots. After she handed them to me, I quickly pulled the jeans on and zipped them, pulled on the boots and went to bathroom to put on a strapless bra. After I came out, Rogue laced up my corset, LaToya went back to styling my hair and Kitty got to work on my makeup. She applied black eye shadow, a little bit of foundation around my eye to cover up my dark circles and painted my lips the same dazzling red as my shirt. Rogue found my jewelry box and put a pair of black and red studded earrings, Aunt Viv's bracelet and a red heart shaped necklace.

"There done," LaToya said. "And with seven minutes to spare."

"You look amazing," Kitty said.

"No time to look in the mirror," I said grabbing my car keys and purse. "I'll just have to take your word for it! Wish me luck!"

"God knows she needs it with that boy," Rogue said.

"Oh yeah," Kitty said.

* * *

I drove as fast as the speed limit would allow me to the Brotherhood house. I screeched into the driveway and turned off the car. I looked in my rearview mirror and gasped. They did a _really_ good job with me. LaToya pinned my hair in a bun that had two bangs framing my face with a few loose strands of hair above the bun itself to give it a fan look. Kitty did an expert job with my makeup and Rogue picked the perfect accessories to go with my outfit. I waited a moment in my car to settle my heartbeat and let my breathing even out. After everything returned to normal, I got out of the car and walked up to the door. As I tentatively knocked on the door, I felt my stomach knot up and churn nervously.

'There's nothing to be nervous about,' I reassured. 'It's just Pietro. No big deal.'

I fiddled with my bracelet as the door opened up to reveal Lance.

"Hey, Lance," I greeted as I ignored the nervousness in my voice. "Is, um, Pietro ready to go?"

"Uh huh," Lance nodded as if in a trance before shaking his head to shoo away any unwanted thoughts. "Pietro! Mina's here!"

"Quit yelling!" Pietro called down from upstairs. He sped downstairs and stopped in his tracks when he saw me. "Oh wow. Hi." 'She looks beautiful!'

"Hi, yourself," I said. "Come on, the carnival awaits."

"Let's-let's go," Pietro stammered. 'God, why am I so damn nervous right now?'

"Bye guys," I said as Pietro closed the door to the Brotherhood house. "Might as well get going."

I tried hopping into his arms but he made no effort to pick me up.

"Something wrong?" I asked uneasily.

"Nothing's wrong," Pietro said. "It's just that I think we should drive instead."

"Why the sudden change of heart?" I asked.

"I wouldn't want the wind to ruin your hair," Pietro said. "You must've spent hours on it just to look good for me."

I gave a slight chuckle in response and tossed him my keys. He gave a surprised but confused look and I said "The man always drives the lady on the first date."

* * *

We arrived at the carnival and surprisingly, Pietro opened the door for me like a gentlemen.

"Thank you," I said as I took his hand to help me out of the car. And there it was again; that jolt of electricity that happened the last time we touched. We retracted our hands at the same time and blushed before trying it again. This time, no electricity only the warmth of our hands.

'Much better,' I thought with a smile. We arrived at the ticket booth Pietro pulled out his wallet to pay for our tickets.

"So where do you wanna go first?" Pietro asked.

"Wow, that's sweet of you," I said. "Asking _me_ what _I_ wanna do. You should already know the answer."

"Let me guess," Pietro said. "The tunnel of love. A nice and dark slow ride on the water, perfect for making out in."

I giggled for a moment before saying "No, stupid. I meant the roller coaster!"

"Oh," Pietro said.

'But we can always save that idea for later,' I thought slyly.

"What are you waiting for, slowpoke?" I asked as I ran toward the ride.

"Who are you calling a slowpoke?" Pietro asked as he ran in front of me and beat me to the ride. "Took ya long enough to get here."

"Can we just get on the ride?" I asked. I climbed into the car in the middle and Pietro followed suit. We buckled up and waited for the man to start the ride. He pressed a green button and the roller coaster car lurched forward. It slowly rose to the top of the first drop and stopped before rocketing us down.

"Whoo!" I yelled as I threw my hands in the air. The roller coaster sent us back up a hill then dropped us again. The car zipped around tall corners and I held on tight when the loop came. After a few more drops we came to one last loop before the ride ended. After running with Pietro, that ride seemed like it for for toddlers.

"That was weak!" Pietro said getting out of the car then reaching down to help me out.

"Oh yeah," I agreed as I took his hand. I stepped out of the car but my heel got caught on a nail so I lost my footing and fell, -right on top of Pietro.

"I am so sorry!" I laughed. "My shoe got caught on a nail."

"Wow, talk about Deja vu," Pietro said wrapping his arms around my waist. "But hey, who am I to complain with a such a beautiful girl laying on top of me?"

"I think I should get up," I said. 'Even though I like it better down here,' I thought.

"Why?" Pietro asked. "I like it under here."

A throat cleared from above us and we looked up to see the angry conductor tapping his foot.

"Do you kids mind shovin' off?" he asked impatiently. "Your holding the line up."

I quickly got up and helped Pietro off the floor. The blushs gracing our cheeks were redder than my lipstick. We walked down the wooden steps and ignored the looks we were receiving from the other carnival goers. After the roller coaster, Pietro and I went on every fast ride in the carnival except one.

"Uh, where to next?" I asked.

"Spider Whirl sound good?" Pietro asked.

"Maybe that ride'll be faster than the others," I said. We walked to the ride and took our seats. After strapping myself in, I gasped before hiding my face in Pietros chest.

"What's wrong?" Pietro asked.

"Look straight ahead," came my muffled voice. "Kurt and Tabitha are getting on the ride."

"And?" Pietro asked.

"And what if they see us," I replied.

"So what if they do," Pietro said. "You could always wipe their minds if they do."

I was just about to say it 'wouldn't be that simple' when the ride started spinning. We went around and around in a circle that was moderately fast until the ride suddenly started going faster and faster. I saw Tabitha throw one of her energy bombs into the control panel so the ride was spinning out of control.

"Now this is what I'm talking about!" Pietro yelled.

"Aah!" I screamed and laughed at the same time. The speed I could handle, it was just the circle pattern that was making me dizzy. The ride kept going faster and faster until it slowed to a halt. I dizzily got off the ride and stumbled around until Pietro kept me balanced.

"You're such a wimp," Pietro laughed.

"I am not!" I yelled. I would've hit him but I was seeing two Pietros so I decided against it until my vision returned to normal.

"Come on," Pietro said picking me up. "Let's sit you down somewhere."

Pietro carried me to the picnic bench close to the concession stands and sat me upright while he used himself as a support for me. It took a moment for everything to return to normal but the spinning eventually stopped. Suddenly there was a loud thunderous growl.

"Did you hear that?" Pietro asked. "It sounded like a bear."

I giggled and said "That would be my stomach. I trained through lunchtime today."

"To the concession stand!" Pietro declared. We walked around surveying the stands until we both agreed on a classic carnival food: hot dogs.

"Two jumbo chilli cheese hot dogs," Pietro said to the man running the stand.

"Jalapeños on mine," I said. The clerk handed us our hot dogs and I pulled out my purse to pay.

"Whoa, whoa," Pietro said. "What are you doing?"

"Paying for our food," I said.

"We're on a date, let the me handle this," Pietro said.

"Pietro you don't need to pay for everything," I said. "You paid for the tickets, so I pay for the food. It's only fair."

"But I _always_ pay for my dates," Pietro argued.

"Well let your date pay for you once," I retorted as I gave the hot dog guy the money. "It doesn't make you any less of a man."

"Oh well thanks," Pietro said hesitantly. We each got a drink and sat down to eat. Now normally I would've finished this hot dog in just a few bites but since I was eating with Pietro, I had to keep it classy. Even thought the spicy smell of the chili and the smooth melted cheese begged to be consumed immediately, I took small bites and took a sip of soda between each swallow.

"Why are you eating so slow?" Pietro asked.

I blushed and said " 'Cause I don't wanna pig out in front of you."

"Mina, I've watched Blob eat a whole pizza in one bite. Anything you can do can't be as bad," Pietro chuckled. "Eat how you want. I don't care."

"Okay. But I warned you," I said. I had three-quarters of a hot dog left and hungrily gobbled it down in four large bites. I looked at Pietros face and instead of a horrified look I was faced with a look of pure amusement.

"See," Pietro said. "I told you I could handle it."

"Wow," I said in disbelief. "You're the first guy I've met that hasn't given me a disgusted look after watching me eat."

"Well I'm better than any guy you'll ever meet," Pietro said cockily. "And to prove it, I'm going to win you any stuffed animal you want."

"Any one I want, huh?" I said.

"Just pick what you like and I'll get it for you," Pietro said.

I scanned around the carnival grounds and found the one I wanted: a giant light blue baby bull with a white belly and little yellow horns.

"Aww! I want that one! It's so cute!" I said pulling him toward the booth.

"Okay, okay," Pietro said. "Hey, what do I have to do to get that bull for her?"

"All you have to do is knock down the milk bottles and the bulls yours for the simple price of one dollar," the shady man said. 'But try as you might those milk bottles aint going down. The glue I used made sure of that. Your money going to be nice and happy in my pocket.'

I just happened to pick up on the mans loud thought and immediately alerted Pietro.

(Pietro, the game's rigged), I telepathically said. (But old dumbass over there used water-based glue. I'll tell you when to throw okay.)

"Okay," Pietro said as he slid a dollar toward the man.

I stared intently at the bottles and focused on the glue. I dropped my once crossed arms to the sides of my body and simply flicked two fingers forward to make the glue releases its hold on the bottles and drip behind them instead.

"Go ahead, Pietro," I said sweetly. "I really want that stuffed bull."

"Calm down, I got it covered," Pietro said as he threw the small ball the man had given him as hard as he could. The once devious look in the mans eyes changed to shock and confusion as he watched the bottles tumble down.

"There, I knocked 'em down," Pietro said. "Now give the girl her stuffed bull."

The man hesitantly brought the bull down and reluctantly handed it to me.

"Yay!" I squealed as I squeezed my bull. "Come on, Pietro. We have two more rides we need to go on."

"Which ones?" Pietro asked.

"Just follow me," I said. "You'll see in a minute."

We walked around the carnival and I stopped him once we got the giant blue and yellow starred wheel.

"Ah, no! The Ferris wheel," Pietro disdainfully said. "No way am I getting on this! It's so slow!"

"That's fine," I said stepping onto one of the Ferris wheel cars. "I could always find someone else to cuddle up to."

"On-second-thought, I-change-my-mind," Pietro said in super speed as he climbed in next to me.

The Ferris wheel car slowly rocked back and forth as the wheel turned us at a lulling pace. I looked over our safety rail and saw the people on the ground become smaller and smaller as our car rose higher and higher into the air. The once metronomic rocking of our car was suddenly replaced with fast shaking. I looked to my left and saw Pietro jittering in super speed.

"Pietro, what's wrong with you?" I asked in concern. "You're all jumpy."

"I-told-you-the-rides-going-to-slow," Pietro speedily replied.

"You have to stop," I said. "I don't think the car can take this kind of shaking."

"Don't-you-think-I-would-if-I-could," came Pietros fast counter.

In my mind his words meant that he couldn't stop unless the ride got faster. See on how that wasn't going to happen, in an attempt to abate his agitation, I scooted closer to him and wrapped his arm around my shoulder and snuggled up to his body.

"Pietro listen to me," I began. "Forget how slow the ride's going and just concentrate on me and you, okay."

Pietros quivering began to die down as he stared into my eyes and snuggled closer to me. I nuzzled my head into his neck and he rested his chin on top of it. I closed my eyes and sighed a heavy sigh of relief and content. The rest of the ride went on without a word needing to be uttered and Pietro and I both enjoyed the calming silence and the close proximity of our bodies. Once the ride ended and we got off the Ferris Wheel, I pulled him around the carnival until we arrived at a ride with a giant heart shaped entrance.

" 'The Tunnel of Love' ," Pietro said. "You finally decided to take me up on my offer."

"The first part yes, the second part no," I said. I took note of Pietros confused expression and said "I never kiss on the first date, Pietro."

"Why not?" Pietro bellowed.

"I just don't," I replied. "Just be patient, which I know is next to impossible for you. But when the times right, trust me, it'll be worth the wait."

"Fine," Pietro huffed.

"Oh don't do that," I pleaded as I saw his pout.

"Do what?" Pietro asked.

"Pout," I replied. "Your much cuter when you smirk but even sexier when you smile."

As hard as Pietro tried to keep his expression from wavering, I could still see a smirk creeping its way onto his lips.

"Can we just try to enjoy the ride?" I asked.

Pietro sighed and walked toward the entrance with me. We found an empty boat and he held my hand as I carefully stepped into the boat. After he got settled in, the boat started slowly floating forward. I looked at the beautiful twinkly lights, pink and red hearts and the calming sound of rushing water and thought 'All I need now is some more cuddling from Pietro and this ride would be absolutely perfect.'

Somehow knowing exactly what I was thinking, Pietro pulled me closer to him and we wrapped our arms around each other.

"This is nice," I sighed happily. "Bet ya never had a date like this before."

"I've had a **lot** of dates in my life and I can honestly say none of then have _ever_ been like this," Pietro said.

"Is that a good or bad thing?" I curiously asked.

"It's definitely good," Pietro replied.

"Am I good?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" Pietro asked.

"Well, am I better than the other girls you've dated?" I asked.

"You're definitely smarter and prettier," Pietro said. "But there's something about you that I really like. Something I didn't see in the other girls."

"Oh yeah? Well I'm a pretty unique person," I gloated. "Special talents, special powers, special family, special birth-"

"Special birth?" Pietro questioned. "Special how?"

"It's a long story," I replied. "I'll tell you about it sometime. Maybe on our next date."

"Next date," Pietro smirked. "I like the sound of that."

Just then both my phone and Pietros started ringing. We pulled apart to check on our phones and both let out a groan of irritation. I looked on my phone screen to see who was calling and groaned as I rolled my eyes.

"Who's calling you?" Pietro asked.

"Scott," I answered. "You?"

"Lance," Pietro replied. "You wanna ignore the calls?"

"You aint gotta tell me twice," I replied as I put my phone back in my purse. "If they're both calling that must mean our teams are fighting again."

"Who cares," Pietro said.

"Not me," I replied. "I'm sure they can handle it without us."

"Lance knows better than to call me when I'm on a date," Pietro said. "Especially on a date with a stunningly beautiful girl like you."

I giggled and said "Hey, I'm the lucky one here. I'm on a date with smexiest boy at Bayville."

"Don't you mean 'smexiest boy in the world' ?" Pietro asked arrogantly.

I just laughed at his overconfidence and snuggled back up to Pietro. I looked around the tunnel and noticed that something it was changing. The once red paint had turned black and an eerie layer of smoke was being dispelled from the sides of the tunnel.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Beats me," Pietro shrugged.

Out of nowhere, a dark figure jumped out and managed to startle me and Pietro because we both let out a yelp of surprise before launching into a fit of giggles.

"You should have seen your face!" I laughed. "You looked like you were about to pee your pants!"

"Your one to talk," Pietro laughed. "You should've seen _your_ face."

"Man, this is lame," I said. "The old 'get the girl to cling to the guy' haunted ride trick."

"Seriously," Pietro said.

The ride wasn't even scary. A few ghosts and witches popped out to scare us but Pietro and I ignored them and laughed through the remainder of the ride. I could see the end of the tunnel and thought the ride was finally over until I saw the fire. Two fire cannons were set up next to us and they each shot flames into the air. Time seemed to stand still as I saw the incandescent pillars of fire flicker. I felt the heat of the flames surround the boat and began wildly hyperventilating.

"Mina? Mina, are you okay?" I heard a muffled voice ask.

I couldn't hear who it was because all I could hear was a child scream and a desperate plea for 'help' over and over again. I covered my ears to make the screaming stop but it got louder and louder. The screaming continued until I felt myself being shaken by someone. The familiar daze I was in stopped when I turned my head to see Pietro with a look of concern and worry on his face. I buried my head in his chest and clung to him tightly. He stroked my back and told me everything was going to be alright. The ride ended and we quickly got out of the tunnel. I walked up to one of the booths and purchased a stick of cotton candy. Sweets always did mange to calm me down.

"You wanna go home now?" Pietro asked. I quietly nodded my head in agreement.

We walked back to my car and drove to the Brotherhood house in silence. Pietro parked my car behind Lances jeep and turned it off.

"Look I'm sorry," I said breaking the awkward quiet in my car.

"You don't have to apologize," Pietro said. "You didn't do anything wrong."'

"Yes I did," I said. "I ruined our date. I guess I can forget about the second date; you must think I'm crazy now."

"I don't think your crazy," Pietro said. "You had a moment. We've all had our shares of 'em. And you didn't ruin the date. I still thought it was perfect. And the next one will be, too."

"Thank you," I said as I reached over to hug him.

"So do you wanna talk about it," Pietro carefully asked. "It's fine if you don't."

"I think I need to," I quietly said. "A few months after Andre died I started having nightmares about his death and about fire. I stayed awake at night just so I wouldn't have to have another one. The nightmares eventually stopped but every time I see fire up close, its like I'm reliving watching him die over and over again."

"Semina, I'm so sorry," Pietro said hugging me tighter. "No one should ever have to live like this."

"I'm a pyrophobe," I cried. "If I didn't have Andre's death etched into my memories, I wouldn't have to live in fear of fire. But I just can't help it."

I cried harder than I did before and mentally kicked myself for being so weak in front of Pietro. And if there's one thing I _**hate**_, it's being seen as weak. But I did immediately feel much better talking to someone about this. The only other people who know are my family and my parents haven't done a damn thing to help my phobia but Anthony and LaToya help me as much as they can.

"God, look at me," I laughed as I saw my reflection in the mirror. "I look terrible."

"You look just fine to me," Pietro said leaning into me. I smirked before stopping his lips with my cotton candy.

"I don't kiss on the first date, remember quicky?" I teased.

He look slightly disappointed so I leaned up and gave his a tender, lingering kiss on the cheek. I pulled back to see the soft smile on his face and I giggled as I saw the red lip stain I left on his cheek because it was a bright contrast to his pale skin. I pointed at the mirror and he smirked at his reflection. I smiled and handed him the rest of my cotton candy because he was licking at his lips a lot to taste the sugary sweet treat.

"At least I got something," Pietro said getting out of the drivers seat. "Goodnight, Mina."

"G'night, Pietro," I said. "I'll text you later."

I turned my car back on and waved to him before driving back to the mansion in bliss.

A/N: Aww! Such a cute chappie! But what does Semina mean about her 'special' birth? In the next chappie: we see a sweet moment between Mina and Pietro and see Mina's pyrophobia at it's worst so far. And the million dollar question: will Semina finally kiss Pietro? Read the next chapter to find out! Hit the review button and tell me how you liked this chapter!

*Commons- an open area where students usually sit and hang out before or after school

*German for: This is delicious!


	14. One Step Further

A/N: Guess who's baaaack? Sorry for they delay. Here's the new chappie. ENJOY!

This chapter is set to: 'We R Who We R' by Ke$ha

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution or any song used in this story, so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

One Step Further

It had been two weeks since my carnival date with Pietro and we've gone out every Friday since. He's still the arrogant, proud guy I met at Iron Back but he's much sweeter now; well to me anyway. Although, I _have_ been making him be nicer to Kitty and he's starting to be with a little, um, **_forced _**persuasion. But that's not what surprised me so much. After all I've heard about his womanizing ways, there was a small part of me just waiting for him to just drop me but he's been nothing but good to me. And for that I've actually been letting myself trust him. I've told him about some things about my past and he's told me about his, but there are some painful memories that I have to keep hidden. I mean there's no need to reopen old wounds and I get the feeling he's keeping some painful things locked up, too.

On our dates it turns out we have a lot in common. We both like the same kind of movies and food, have the worst parents ever, are smart, can speak French fluently and have a distinctive love of motorcycles and anything sugary. And we both hate carrots and 'Jersey Shore'. As far as we see it, the fact that we're both physically attractive just adds to our relationship. On Saturdays, Kitty and I spend most of our time at the Brotherhood house. Not that they mind because we always bring food over. What shocks me is that Tabitha's been able to put up with them for so long. I can only take so much of them but she's been _living_ under the same roof with them. The more you think about it, the scarier the thought becomes.

Things with Kitty and Lance have been as great as things with Pietro and I. We even double dated a few times! My relationship with Pietro is everything I hoped it would be but it's the same relationship that the X-Men don't know about yet. They've been begging me to bring the guy I'm seeing over for dinner but I've made fake excuse after another to not bring him over. As if Pietro would even _want_ to come over for dinner. It's one part hatred for Evan and Scott and one part fear of Logan. It's taken them long enough to get used to the idea of Kitty and Lance dating. If _any_ of them, other than the ones that already know and accept it, found out about me and Pietro I don't know how'd they take it.

* * *

I groggily wiped my eyes as I got out of bed to meet the Professor downstairs. He had called all the official X-Men, which now included Anthony, to talk to him about something urgent. Somehow over the last month Anthony has managed to control his powers, both super strength and earth manipulation, as quickly and efficiently as the rest of us that the Professor, Ororo and Logan all agreed he needed to be 'promoted'. And of course he hasn't stopped rubbing it in my face but at least it evens out the team and provides me with someone to watch my back in the Danger Room. I was still half asleep while the professor was talking but I fully woke up when he said 'Juggernaut' and that his holding cell was starting to fail.

(Who's Juggernaut?) Anthony telepathically asked me.

(Professers X's half brother), I replied. (Big dude. You don't wanna see him in an alley after dark while he's in a bad mood.)

There was no way that I was going up against Juggernaut again. It was sheer luck that we beat him the last time! Scott told us to suit up and be ready to go in five minutes but Professor X stopped us. He said that he only needed to take Anthony with him.

"What!" I exclaimed. "Why him?"

"His super-strength could prove to be useful in the event that Juggernaut does escape his cell," Professor X explained. "But I assure you, he _is_ a last resort. Anthony, pack a light bag and meet me in the hanger in ten minutes."

"Yes, Professor," Anthony replied as he walked back to his room.

The professor continued by saying that in his absence, Scott and Jean were in charge.

'Oh this is just getting better and better,' I thought sarcastically as I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

The Professor said goodbye and I slunk back up to my room to get some sleep before school.

* * *

I slammed my fist on my alarm clock and yawned before climbing out of my bed. With Storm away in Africa, I had been entrusted with the task of cooking for everyone. But cooking breakfast and dinner for seventeen mutants isno easy feat, so I had asked LaToya to help. She's not as good a cook as me but not nearly as bad as Kitty. After showering and changing, I headed downstairs and set the table before I began taking ingredients out to start cooking breakfast in the kitchen. I had already telepathically told my sister to meet me downstairs to help me out and started cracking eggs into a bowl when she came downstairs.

"Morning," LaToya yawned. "What're we cooking today?"

"Bacon and veggie omelets, cheesy hash browns and my special blueberry muffins," I replied.

"Sounds delicious," LaToya said. "And you never make your blueberry muffins unless your in a good mood. I guess things are going great with Pietro."

"Better than great," I beamed as I poured buttermilk, vanilla extract and vegetable oil. "He makes me really happy."

"I can tell," LaToya commented as she whisked a bowl of eggs. "You smile a lot more and you've been opening up to us more often."

"Yeah, well Pietro's been helping me," I said as I poured flour, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon and a pinch of salt into a different bowl. "It's easier to talk to him than I imagined."

"Have you guys kissed yet?" LaToya asked as she put chopped vegetables and bacon in the eggs.

I looked away as I blushed and shyly muttered a simple "No."

"You haven't?" LaToya supersonically yelled. She managed to shatter a few plates and possibly wake up half the mansion.

"Shh! Shh! Shh!" I said as I clamped a hand over her mouth. "Don't be so damn loud!"

"Semina, why haven't you kissed him yet?" LaToya asked in her normal voice after she removed my hand from her mouth. "Y'all been going out for a two weeks now. Two weeks for him is like two years!"

"I don't know," I replied truthfully before throwing a pack of fresh blueberries in the muffin batter. "Maybe he wants to take it slow?"

"Pietro '_Quicksilver_' Maximoff?" LaToya scoffed. "I doubt it. That boy doesn't take anything slow."

"There's a first time for everything," I said as I poured my completed muffin batter into six muffin tins and popped them in the oven. I had made more than enough for everyone at the institute _and_ made extra for the Brotherhood.

"Maybe," LaToya said pouring the egg batter into a large and hot skillet.

As LaToya cooked the eggs, I got started on the hash browns. I diced a pile of large potatoes and a grated huge chunk of cheddar cheese into a bowl and mixed then together with a spoon before forming them into flat, oval shapes and placing them into the deep fryer full of bubbling oil. By the time I finished frying the hash browns, the time on the oven rang signaling that my muffins were ready. LaToya took them out and set them on the cooling rack. It's a good thing she was almost done with the eggs because one by one the teens of the institute piled into the dining room and waited for their breakfast to be served.

"Mmm," Kurt said as he sniffed the air. "Vhatever LaToya and Mina are cooking, it smells delicious!"

"I'll say," Kitty said. "Their cooking is so worth getting up so early for."

LaToya and I placed the food in silver serving trays to keep them warm and began transporting the food to the table.

"Good morning, ya'll!" LaToya and I said in unison.

"Breakfast is served!" LaToya said cheerfully as we put the food on the table and took the lids off. "Bacon and veggie omelets with a side of cheesy hash browns."

"And one omelet _without_ bacon for Kitty," I said placing a plate of eggs in front of her.

"Thanks," Kitty said appreciatively.

LaToya brought out two pitchers of orange juice, so I asked who wanted some and everyone's hand shot up. Walking around to pour peoples glasses didn't sound very appealing, so I put each of my hands over both pitchers and controlled the orange juice directly into their cups. I took my seat at the table and began eating my own plate of food. The fluffy omelet full of chunky vegetables and crunchy bacon was a sharp contrast to the crispy hash browns I had made.

"How do you guys like the food?" I asked. Food stuffed mouths mumbled out words of praise.

"Zhis omelet is really good," Kurt said.

"Thank LaToya," I said. "She made 'em."

"Oh, it was nothing," LaToya blushed as she looked at Kurt.

I looked around the table and saw everyone was finishing up their plates, so I went back to the kitchen to put the muffins out. I emptied three tins into a wicker basket and noticed they were still warm.

"I hope y'all saved room for my special blueberry muffins," I said reentering the dining room.

"What makes them so special?" Jean asked.

"I only make them when I'm in a good mood," I replied. "So enjoy!"

The basket was passed around and as everyone took a bite they sighed in appreciation. I took one for myself and bit into it and thought 'Yup, I still got it.' The muffin was soft and moist but not mushy and the cinnamon and vanilla only added to the divine taste of the muffin. A short vibration snapped me out of my muffin tasting. I took my phone out of my pocket and saw a text from Pietro.

It read: G'Mornin' Mina

And I replied: 'Mornin 2 U 2! Did y'all eat breakfast?

He replied: No. Why?

I typed: Just askin' Tell Lance that me 'n' Kitty R on our way, k. I'll meet u in ten.

He replied: Okay

(Hey, Kitty. I'm going to the Brotherhood house. Wanna come with?) I telepathically asked.

(Sure), Kitty replied.

(Can you help me take the rest of the breakfast, too?)

(No problem) she said.

"Hey, guys," I said getting out of my seat. "Kitty and I have a stop to make before school, so we're taking off now. LaToya if you need a ride you better get ready quick."

LaToya groaned irritatedly before following Kitty and I upstairs. We grabbed our school bags before heading back to the kitchen to put the rest of the food in heat insulated containers. We piled into my car and I drove to the BoM house. We got out, took the containers and Kitty knocked on the door. Lance answered the door and his face brightened up at the sight of Kitty.

"Hey, girls," Lance said. "Come in."

We all entered and headed to the kitchen where we found everyone else but Pietro sitting around.

"Hey, guys and Tabitha," I greeted. "Y'all remember my sister LaToya, right?"

They all nodded and became curious as they saw the containers me and my sister were holding.

"What are you guys doing here, yo?" Toad asked. "And what's in that?"

"We come bringing gifts," I said holding up a container of food. "Where's Pietro?"

Pietro ran up behind me, wrapped his arms around me and hugged me from behind.

"I'm right here," Pietro whispered in a tone that sent goosebumps crawling over my skin."Did ya miss me?"

"You tell me," I said as I turned around in his arms and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"What's in there?" Pietro asked as he pointed to the blue plastic container I was holding.

"I was just getting to that," I said. "I brought y'all some breakfast courtesy of me and LaToya. Omelets, hash browns and blueberry muffins. All made from scratch, I might add. I hope y'all like it."

I set the containers down and they all immediately dug in.

"Mmm!" Tabitha said. "Who made these eggs?"

"I did," LaToya said.

"They're _DELICIOUS_!" Tabitha exclaimed.

"Blob stop hogging all the muffins!" Lance yelled.

"Yeah, save some for us!" Pietro said.

Within five minutes flat, all the food in the container was gone! LaToya and I spent hours in the kitchen making all this food and it took them little to no time at all to completely devour it.

"Hey, guys show some appreciation!" Pietro said. "Semina and LaToya slaved over a hot stove to make breakfast for us. The least you can do is say thank you."

"Aww, aren't you sweet," I playfully gushed. "But y'all don't even need to say thanks. It's thanks enough that you guys are keeping your mouths shut about me and Pietro. If word got around school that we were dating, shit would hit the roof."

"Yeah," Kitty piped in. "Think how the rest of the team would take it."

"I honestly don't give a rat's ass how they would take it," I said. "As long as things are good between Pietro and me, everything in the world is just fine."

"You said it," Pietro said leaning in. Our lips were just about to meet when I heard laughs being chocked back.

"What the hell is so funny?" Pietro asked.

"You two," Tabitha laughed. "You guys sound like something out of a sappy romance movie."

Pietro and I blushed before we joined in on the laughter too. My laughter died down as I felt my phone vibrate again. It was a text from Scott asking where Kitty, LaToya and I were because school was about to start. I looked at the time and sighed.

"Who was that?" Pietro asked.

"Scott," I answered. "He wants to know where we are. He and Jean are gonna bitch at us if we're late to school. But I promise I'll meet you for lunch then you can have me all to yourself, k quicky."

Pietro sighed and said "Okay" before walking me to the door. Kitty said goodbye to Lance and we all headed for my car. I blew a kiss to Pietro and waved before leaving for school.

* * *

Lunch time finally came around so, Pietro and I walked hand in hand to our favorite lunch spot. It was a single picnic table set up under a large oak tree in the schools grassy courtyard. This is were we spent most of our time at lunch because of the whole 'secret relationship' thing. We sat down on opposite sides of the table and I looked at the table to see nothing but fallen leaves.

"Why didn't we get our lunches first?" I asked.

"Because today we're not having that slop they call food from the cafeteria," Pietro replied with a smirk.

"Then what are we going to eat? These leaves on the table?" I teased. "I'm all for eating healthy but this is a little extreme."

"Nope I was thinking of something a bit meatier," Pietro said. "Stay right here. I'll be right back."

"Where are you-" I began to say until my question fell upon deaf ears. Pietro had sped away before I got the chance to even finish what I was saying! A few moments later, Pietro returned with a large brown paper bag.

"What's in the bag?" I asked curiously.

"Take a whiff and figure it out," Pietro said.

He opened the bag and I cautiously sniffed inside the bag but took a long inhale when I figured out what it was. The smell of tangy marinara sauce filled with aromatic Italian spices and freshly baked bread was a dead giveaway.

"Pietro you didn't!" I exclaimed.

"Oh but I did," Pietro reassured. "I got your favorite meatball sub from Zutilinnis, a small side salad with Ranch dressing topped with cracked black pepper and shredded Parmesan cheese, and for dessert I got the red velvet cupcakes you talk about so much from-

"Ms Zenita's Bakery," we said in unison.

"Oh my god," I said quietly. "I can't believe it."

"What's not to believe about it?" Pietro asked. "I got a special meal for a special girl.

"How did I get so lucky to be dating someone like you?" I asked.

"It's because you have extraordinary taste," Pietro boasted. "I mean look at me! I'm the epitome of handsomeness."

"Pietro, stop being so arrogant and just come here," I said lightly grabbing his shirt collar and pulling him toward me. I was millimeters from his mouth but at the last second, I pulled back and clutched my head.

(SEMINA!) Evan telepathically yelled.

"AAH!" I yelled in pain. "Damn it! Not so loud!"

(What do you want, Evan?) I yelled back. (I'm in the middle of something!)

(Scott wanted me to tell you that we have a training session after school), Evan replied.

(Whatever), I replied angrily as I broke our conversation.

"What was that all about?" Pietro asked.

"Evan decided to yell something at me through a mental megaphone," I answered. 'Now I'm all irritated and there's a ringing noise in my head.'

"God-can't-Daniels-just-stay-away-from-where-he's-not-needed!" Pietro said just as irritated as I am.

"Might as well eat before the food gets cold," I huffed. We ate in silence and shared a common hate of Evans bad timing.

* * *

After school ended, I walked the almost empty halls of Bayville to find Kitty because she had something 'important' and 'top secret' to tell me. I angrily stormed down the hallway as I thought about how Evan interrupted what would have been Pietro and I's first kiss as a couple. Not watching where I was going, I accidentally crashed into someone.

"Hey! Watch where-" Lance angrily began until he looked to see who he bumped into. "Oh hey Semina."

"Hey, Lance," I greeted.

"You look irritated," Lance commented. "Did Pietro do something stupid?"

"No, I'm more angry at Evan than anyone else right now," I replied.

"Why? What did he do?" Lance asked.

I retold me and Pietro's lunch story and Lance just shook his head.

"Well me and you are on the same boat here," Lance said.

"You haven't kissed Kitty either?" I asked.

"Nope," Lance said. "I'm waiting for her to get comfortable with there being an 'us', y'know?"

"Wow," I said. "Under that tough Avalanche exterior you're a big softie when it comes to Kitty aint ya?"

Lance just blushed in reply.

I sighed and said "I'm going to meet Kitty now, wanna come with?"

"Uh, sure," Lance agreed. We walked toward where everyone else was but stopped when I saw Rogue, Kurt and Evan.

"I think I'll meet up with her later," Lance said.

"Suit yourself," I said walking up to everyone else but not before casting Evan an angry glare. "What's so important?"

"We're having a party!" Kitty and LaToya shouted excitedly.

"A party?" I questioned.

"Yeah! With the professor, Storm and Mr. Logan gone, I figured we could host a party at the mansion," Kitty said.

"What about Mr. and Mrs. X-Man?" I asked. Those were our nicknames for Scott and Jean.

"Ve have zhat covered," Kurt said.

"Okay, one more thing," I began. "Who can I invite to this?"

"Anyone you want!" Kitty said.

"_Anyone_ I want?" I confirmed.

"Yeah! Like the cheerleaders," Evan suggested.

"Gotcha! I gotta go!" I said turning my heel and running to catch up to Lance.

"Hey Lance!" I called as he began to walk out of the door.

"What's up?" Lance asked.

"Are you and Pietro doing anything tonight?" I asked.

"No, why?" Lance inquired.

"Think you two are up to crashing a party?" I asked with a mischievous grin.

* * *

I dropped LaToya, Rogue and Evan off at the mansion to get everything set up and drove Kitty, Kurt and I to Lookout Point where we were going to leave Scott and Jean stranded. I put two fingers to my temple and searched for Jean and Scotts minds. Scott was already there so I tracked Jean's until she was in place with Scott and Duncan left them alone.

"Jean's there and Duncan just left," I said. "Let's put Operation: Party in motion."

Kurt put his hand on Kitty's shoulder and they disappeared in a 'bamf' of smoke. I put two fingers to each temple and searched for Pietro's mind. When I found it I said (Hey quicky, did I catch you at a bad time?)

(Ah! Semina! You know I hate when you do that!) Pietro yelled.

(Sorry! But it saves me money on my phone bill), I joked. (I was wondering if Lance told you about the party yet.)

(He did. I would've never expected you x-geeks to throw a party while baldy's gone), Pietro chuckled.

(This wasn't my idea. That was all Kitty), I said.

(This was Prydes idea?) Pietro exclaimed. (Who knew the valley girl had it in her!)

(Hey! Be nice!) I yelled.

(Fine! Fine! Just stop yelling!) Pietro said.

(So I'll see you and Lance tonight at around 6:30 P.M), I said. (You _are_ coming right?)

(I wouldn't miss a chance to dance with you), Pietro said. I could just imagine the sexy smirk on his face.

(Okay, see you tonight), I said before breaking off our conversation.

A few second later, Kurt and Kitty teleported back to my car.

"Did y'all get the job done?" I asked. Kitty held up Jean's cell phone and Kurt held up a small fuse from Scotts car. "I'm impressed. Let's head back to the mansion and get our party on!"

* * *

When we got back to the mansion and I ran upstairs to get changed. I took off my jeans and t-shirt and threw them in my hamper. I walked to my closet and pulled out a hot pink off the shoulder shirt that cinches at my waist, a black wife beater, long black leggings that had rips going up the sides and a pair of flat hot pink boots that went up to the middle of my calves. I walked to my bathroom and got showered before returning to my room in my bra and panties. I had just started to pull on my leggings when I heard a 'bamf' sound in front of me.

"Ahh!" I yelled as I tried to cover my bodacious chest with my hand. In a quick reflex, I opened the window with my telekinesis, drew a large batch of water from the ocean and froze Kurt to a wall. "Kurt! What have I told you about 'porting in my room like that?"

"Um, not to," Kurt replied with a blush.

I quickly pulled on my wife beater and irritatedly said "Then why did you? Didn't we go through this whole 'teleporting in my room while I was half naked' bit already?"

"Ja, but LaToya told me to tell you she's need your help downstairs," Kurt informed me.

I sighed and said "You could've told me telepathically, y'know."

"It vas much faster this vay," Kurt said.

"And much colder," I said unfreezing him from the wall. "Sorry about that."

"No damage done," Kurt said.

Kurt teleported back downstairs and I finished getting dressed. I parted my hair down the middle, flipped a bang to my left side and tied my hair in a ponytail. I put on a pair of black skull earrings with matching necklace, Aunt Vivs bracelet and my X-Men communicator/ bracelet just in case something goes down. I pulled on my boots and went downstairs where I found a sound system and a snack table had already been set up.

"So what did you need, Toya?" I asked as I spotted her walking out of the kitchen with a cooler.

"I need you to make some ice and put it in the cooler," LaToya replied.

"That's it?" I asked. "Why didn't you ask Bobby to do it? He makes _actual_ ice. I just freeze water."

"That's still ice," LaToya replied. "And I couldn't find him and people are gonna be here any minute."

"Fine," I sighed.

I walked to the kitchen and filled a large bowl with water from the tap. I lifted up the water and floated it above the cooler in the foyer. I shaped the water into a flat cubed sheet, turned it into ice and separated the sheet into little ice cubes. I carefully placed the ice cubes into the cooler and directed my sister to put the drinks in. When I finished, the doorbell rang and Kitty ran to answer it. A giant group of rowdy teenagers came in the door and Evan turned on the stereo and cranked the volume up. The party started almost immediately and LaToya and I walked into the crowd and joined in on the dancing. More and more people came and before you knew it, the entire foyer was almost full of people. I sensed a group of familiar girls, so I ran to the door to answer it.

"Welcome to the party!" I yelled to the rest of the cheerleaders except Misty. I had "forgotten" to invite her.

"Wow, you live here?" Talisa exclaimed in awe. "It's bigger and more beautiful than Misty's house."

"Yeah, it's really nice," Chelsea agreed.

"Where's your brother?" Eva asked eagerly. "I wanna dance with him!"

"Hey! That's _my _boyfriend," Talisa reminded her.

"He's not here," I said. "So just come on in and enjoy the party."

They entered the mansion and I began to follow them to the dancefloor until I heard the doorbell ring again. A smile was brought to my face when I realized who it was. I opened the door and saw Pietro and Lance with their hands in their pockets.

"Hey guys," I greeted.

"Whoa, who invited all these people?" Lance asked.

"Me and my sister did," I replied. "I'm a cheerleader and LaToya's a dancer _and_ on the basketball team so it's only natural that we know almost everyone at Bayville High."

"Where's Kitty?" Lance asked.

"Somewhere in this giant group of kids," I said. "You better hurry and find her. That girl can _move_ and she aint staying in one place for nobody."

Lance hurried past me to find Kitty and left me standing at the door with Pietro.

"Why are we just standing here?" Pietro asked. "Let's get moving."

"I'm waiting on you," I said. "Aren't you gonna ask me to dance?"

"Just try to keep up with me," Pietro said.

I laughed and said "You're going to be the one having to keep up. You've never seen me dance."

"Is that a challenge?" Pietro smirked.

"You know it," I replied flirtatiously.

I pulled him into the dancefloor and immediately got to dancing. I threw my hands in the air and sexily moved to the lively upbeat song as Pietro wrapped his arms around me and danced on me from behind. We stayed in sync with the music and each other. I turned around and we danced with each other face to face. Who knew Pietro was such a great dancer. His moves were precise, exact and on beat with the fast tempo of the music. Nothing like I thought they would be with his super speed and all. I matched his rhythm and energy through every fast paced dance until the crowd got bigger and bigger and people eventually started bumping into us. Girls spotted him in the crowd and they began cutting in front of me to dance with him but I roughly shoved them away.

"Hey! Do you wanna get outta here?" I said. "There's too many people!"

"What?" Pietro yelled back.

I groaned in frustration before grabbing Pietros hand and guiding him upstairs. All these people bumping into me were going to make me have to kick every last one of their asses, so I decided to go somewhere more quiet.

"Oh, so we're going to your room?" Pietro smirked deviously.

"I don't even have to read your mind to know that you have the wrong idea," I said opening the door with the key around my neck. "I have to get something. Come in if you want."

We entered my room and I went to my nightstand as Pietro slowly walked around my room looking at my stuff. I picked up my iPod and earphones and looked in my nightstand drawer to find another pair of headphones and the dual headphone adapter so that Pietro and I could both listen.

"Your room is nothing like how I imagined it," Pietro commented.

"Well what did you expect?" I asked.

"I expected there to be pictures of me everywhere," Pietro said walking to the other side of my bed and looking at the row of pictures I kept on my nightstand. I threw a pillow at him but he quickly sped away from it.

"Well I'm sorry to disappoint you," I said sarcastically.

"Ooh, what do we have here?" Pietro asked as he lifted up a black and pink thong from my top drawer. "These are nice."

I blushed and quickly lunged for him but he sped to the other side of my room. "Give 'em back! You're not supposed to be going through my panties like that!"

"Gonna have to be faster than that, slowpoke," Pietro teased.

"If you don't put my thong back, I'm gonna make you pay!" I said running toward him again.

He sped away from me again, so I decided to try something different. I closed my eyes and tracked Pietros mind before making a telekinetic shield in front of him. When I opened my eyes I saw Pietro on the ground rubbing his forehead, so I sprinted over and reached down to grab my thong back. I got a hold on it but felt Pietro tug on it. We pulled back and forth before he gave a tug that forced me to the floor. We rolled around wrestling for the thong until I took Pietros arms and pinned him to the floor. I thought I had won until Pietro shifted his weight and we ended up trading places. I was now pinned down and he had my arms forced to the floor.

"You're pretty good," Pietro panted.

"You aint too bad yourself," I heavily replied. He leaned down and was just about to kiss me when the door flew open.

"Hey sis are you in here?" LaToya said as she opened the door. She looked at Pietro and I on the floor and quickly said "Oops! I'm sorry!" and left just as fast as she came.

While Pietro was distracted by LaToyas unexpected entrance, I broke his grasp, reached up and grabbed my thong out of his hand.

"Ha!" I said triumphantly. I rolled him off of me and put my thong back in its rightful place.

I heard a small bark and turned my head to find Sasha waking up from her nap. I guess we might've woken her up. For the first time ever, Sasha didn't directly come to me she tentatively strolled over to Pietro and began sniffing around him. She finished her once over of him and began to excitedly bark.

"Why is she barking at me?" Pietro asked.

"Aww, she likes you," I said as I bent down to pick her up. She hopped into Pietros arms and happily licked his face. "She likes you a _lot_."

"Aah! Make her stop!" Pietro laughed. "It tickles!"

"Okay, that's enough Sasha," I laughed. "Down girl."

Sasha hopped out of his arms and rubbed her cheek against Pietros leg.

"Wow, I've never seen her instantly like someone like that before," I said walking to the bathroom to get Pietro a wet towel for his face. 'But I guess that's something we have in common.'

"Your dog has good taste then," Pietro said haughtily.

"Oh hush," I said as I reached into one of my drawers and pulled a couple of toys out for Sasha. "Stay here, Sasha. I'll be back in a little while, okay."

An obedient bark came as my reply.

"As for you," I said grabbing Pietros hand. "We're going somewhere more private and less likely to be barged in on."

"I like the sound of that," Pietro said as I pulled him back down the stairs. We passed the group of teens who were still partying and walked hand in hand to the small gazebo that overlooked the beautiful ocean.

"Here, put these in," I instructed as I passed him a pair of headphones. I plugged our headphones into the adapter and opened the music section on my iPod.

"Let me pick the song," Pietro suggested with a gleam of lechery in his blue eyes.

"I don't think so," I laughed. "Why don't we put it on shuffle and dance to the first song that comes up?"

"Why not?" Pietro shrugged.

I hit the shuffle button and smiled when 'Tonight, I Love You' by The Latency started playing.

Pietro held out his hand to ask me to dance and I happily put my hand in his. Pietro wrapped his arms around my waist as I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried myself into his chest. As the soft rock ballad played, we slowly swayed back and forth to the music. I felt his heart beat a steady rhythm and smiled. I thought back to how we first met, how he saved me from Juggernaut, the back and forth flirting we did, the way he refuses to say how much he really cares about me out loud and all the other females who could be dancing in his arms right now.

(Why me?) I asked Pietro.

(What do you mean?) Pietro inquired.

(What made you want to date _me_ of all people?) I questioned. (I'm not _the_ best. I have a _long _list of flaws and I'm not the smartest, nicest or prettiest girl at Bayville. )

(Semina,why are you even asking these things?) Pietro asked.

(It's just I've been thinking about how many other girls you could've had over me and it makes me wonder what did you see in me back at Iron Back that made you want me?) I asked. (And please be honest with me. Don't sugar coat the truth with arrogance like you normally do.)

(Well, I can honestly say I have _never_ met a girl like you and I doubt I ever will meet someone else just like you. You're strong, beautiful, feisty and smart but how you're not afraid to challenge me and the fact that you never once just threw yourself at me is what made me want you), Pietro said. (There. Was that honest enough for you?)

He looked deep into his eyes and I blinked back tears as I nodded. Before I had a chance to even telepathically respond he leaned his lips down to my lips. My eyes widened in slight shock for a moment because I didn't think it was really happening but it was. The kiss was soft and gentle at first but when I registered what was happening I closed my eyes in bliss and kissed him back with such desire I thought I would hurt him. Pietro pulled me tighter as he lightly grabbed the back of my head and deepened the kiss even more. I couldn't believe how soft his lips were. There was this indescribable feeling we both felt as we kissed and we were hesitant and reluctant to end it but eventually pulled apart and looked at each other. He had his infamous smirk on and I had on a soft smile.

(Wow) I said as I leaned on the gazebo for support. (That was-was, wow.)

(Now I know why you made me wait), Pietro said. (You're a pretty good kisser.)

(Well now that the _first_ kiss is out of the way, let's get started on some more), I said recapturing his lips for another kiss that he gladly accepted and returned. We leaned on the gazebo to keep our balance and we kissed again but for much longer than before. All of a sudden there was this annoying red light that was blinking in the corner of my eye so I pulled apart from Pietro lips.

"What's the matter?" Pietro asked as he felt me break the kiss and take off my headphones.

I held up my wrist with the communicator on it. I brought it up to my mouth and said "Go for Tsunami. What's the problem?"

"I think there's an intruder on tha sub levels," Rogue's voice said. "Suit up and meet us there."

"Okay," I sighed. "I'm sorry, Pietro. I have to go. This might be really important."

"I understand, but you can go after one more kiss," Pietro smirked.

"That's sounds fair. But it has to be a quick one," I smiled. I kissed Pietro one last time before running back to the mansion.

* * *

"I'm here!" I exclaimed as I ran up to the Danger Room door. I noticed the angry expression on Evans face as I got there but ignored it. Before I changed into my X-Men suit and got to the sub levels, I told LaToya she would have make sure the party upstairs didn't get too crazy.

"Semina, what's wrong with your lips?" Kitty asked. "They're really red and they look a little swollen."

I blushed and quickly said "Oh that's nothing! I uh, It's just-just um, so what's this about an intruder Rogue?"

Everyone looked at me strangely before Rogue said "Somebody started up the Danger Room. I can't even get the door open!"

Kurt volunteered to shut it down from the inside but we started to worry when he didn't come back right away and the Danger Room was still running. Kitty phased through the door and came out to say that Kurt got hit. We phased inside the Danger Room to see Kurt in the middle of the room and lasers firing everywhere. Before I had time to get to Kurt, a giant laser shot at us and we all jumped out of the way before it hit us. I unfroze the water I had around my wrists and waist and cut through two tentacles that were coming at me. I ran forward to try to find some kind of cover but wherever I ran to, a laser was fired at me.

'Not even Logan sessions are this hard!' I though. 'Whoever's doing this is gonna get their ass kicked!'

A electrically charged tentacle came out and my eyes widened. If an electrical current hit me while I was holding this water, let's just say I'd be crispier than a bag of kettle chips. I couldn't cut the tentacle with water because the electricity would travel through it and shock me. Even if I _tried _to dodge it, it would still find a way to tangle itself around me. It headed toward me at full speed and I threw my arms over my face as if to defend myself.

'Of all the times my telekinesis could come in handy now would be the perfect time!' I mentally screamed in fear.

I heard a crash then a metallic clang to the floor and peeked one eye open to see the tentacle was broken and the debris was strewn across the Danger Room floor. I had no idea what just happened but I had no time to dwell on it because more lasers fired at me. I ran toward Shadowcat, who looked like she would need some help, but was stopped my a giant laser cannon that had a giant clawed tentacle attached to it. The tentacle grabbed me and put me in close range of the laser. I quickly disarmed the cannon by deflecting a laser beam back at the cannon with a telekinetic shield then cut myself down with a water whip. I made it toward the others while still trying to avoid being hit by lasers. When I got to everyone else, Shadowcat had been knocked out along with Nightcrawler. I felt the floor move, looked behind me to see the middle of the Danger Room elevate and felt a shake before noticing the two giant metal spheres coming at us. Trying to stop these things with telekinesis was a no go and I didn't have enough time to draw water from the air so we were basically stuck. Nightcrawler couldn't have picked a better moment to come to because just as the metal spheres grew closer to us, he teleported us to the hallway outside of the Danger Room.

"Nice timing," I said. "One second later, we would've been sprayed all over the walls."

Before Nightcrawler could say anything, more lasers popped out of the walls.

"Why the hell are there so many damn lasers in this house!" I yelled angrily as we ran down the hallway.

"How are we gonna get outta this?" Shadowcat asked.

"We have to do a manual override of the defense system from the main computer," I said as I dodged a laser. "Come on! It's down this way!"

We ran down the hallway and turned hallway after hallway trying to make it to the computer room. I froze once I saw a couple of metal arms come out of the wall. My breath caught in my throat as I saw the large wall of fire come at us. I don't even remember running down the hallway in the opposite direction until I saw another wall of fire come at us. My feet stayed glued to the floor as the screaming and pleas for help started again just like at the carnival. But this time it was different, I started smelling burning flesh and I _saw_ Andre on his knees engulfed in the wildly crackling red and orange fire that was causing him so much pain. I lurched forward to try to get to him but I felt someone grab my wrist and I was pulled toward a wall then up through a ceiling.

"No!" I yelled as I desperately clawed at the floor trying to get back to the hallway. "Let me go back! I have to save him! He's gonna die!"

"Semina, what are ya talking about?" Rogue asked in concern. "Who do ya need ta save?"

"I have to save Andre!" I yelled as I started slicing through the thick metal floor with quick cuts of water. "He's in the fire and he's dying! Please let me go save him!"

"Semina! Snap out of it!" Shadowcat pleaded. "There's no one out there!"

"Yes there is!" I countered. "Didn't you see him in the flames?"

As much as I tried cutting through the wall, there were only a few deep cut marks; not nearly enough for me to get to the hallway. In my hopeless state, I lost concentration of the water I was controlling and sank to my knees and began to sob.

"I'm so sorry, Andre," I said through my tears. "I can't save you. I tried but I'm too weak. Please forgive me!" I rocked back and forth on the floor with my knees pulled up to my chest still thinking about how I just let my older brother die.

"Vhat's vrong vith her?" Nightcrawler asked.

"We don't know," Shadowcat said. "We were about to get cooked by this giant fire wall and she tried to walk into it! The next thing we knew she was like this!"

"Tha fire triggered tha memory of her brothers death," Rogue said sadly. "She's reliving seeing Andre die."

I was still rocking back and forth on the floor when I felt sharp electrical pain run through me. The shock was enough to snap me out of my painful memory and make me crawl toward the exit. Rogue, Nightcrawler and Jean made their way toward Cerebro while everyone else checked on me.

"Are you okay now?" Kitty asked.

"I'm fine," I replied quietly. "I just need to go sort myself out."

I slowly walked toward the elevator and went up to my room. As soon as I made it to the room, I changed out of my suit, put on my PJ's and fell on my bed and curled up in fetal position. I stayed just like this until I heard three soft and short knocks at the door.

(Come in), I said.

Anthony and LaToya came in and I ran toward my older brother and cried into his broad chest.

"It happened again, didn't it?" Anthony asked as he smoothed my hair in a comforting way.

I nodded my head in reply.

"We need to talk with the professor about this," Anthony said. "He'll help you through this."

"And so will we," LaToya. "Just like we've been doing for the past five years. We will _always_ be here for you."

A/N: Wow, deep stuff. In the next chappie, we're going to take a trip into Semina's mind and have an emotional session with the professor. Hit the little review button and tell me what you thought of this chapter!


	15. A Look Into the Past

A/N: In this chappie we _FINALLY _get to see how Semina's brother Andre died. Oh and remember in the chapter "It's About Time!" when LaToya hesitated when she briefly mentioned there old house? Well it's clarified in this chappie. ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution or any song used in this story, so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

A Look into the Past

I, along with my brother and sister, sat on the couch of the professors study. After my "little episode", they thought it would be a good idea if I had a session with the professor. I insisted on Anthony and LaToya being there for it because it would to hard to go through by myself.

"Alright, Semina," the professor began. "I'd like to start by asking when all of this started happening."

"W-well," I began shakily. "The first time _all_ of this started happening was a few months after Andre died. At first it was just the occasional nightmare but then it started to get worse."

"When did the nightmares begin to get worse?" the professor asked.

"Around the time my powers surfaced," I replied. "They eventually stopped when I turned 14 but then the nightmares became reality."

"What do you mean?" the professor inquired.

"Everything that happened while I was asleep started happening in real life," I explained. "I started having flashbacks of Andres death, smelling smoke in the weirdest of places and seeing Andre when I knew he wasn't really there."

"How do these usually occur?" the professor asked. "Is there some sort of trigger?"

"It's fire," I said. "It doesn't matter how much or how little. Every time I see just the _slightest_ flicker of a flame, it just happens."

"Did your parents ever seek help for your problem?" the professor questioned. "Seeing a therapist or a specialty doctor, maybe?"

I scoffed and replied "Like they cared. Every night when I woke up screaming from a nightmare, my mom would come in and tell me to be quiet because I was waking everybody up. She used to say 'Toughen up, Semina. Or are you so weak that you let a little nightmare scare you?' Some help she was."

"How were you able to cope with this throughout all these years?" the professor questioned.

"Anthony and LaToya have been my support beams for as long as I can remember," I weakly smiled.

"When she woke up drenched in sweat and crying her eyes out, we were there," Anthony added.

"I rocked her in my arms to comfort her to at lest try to somehow calm her down," LaToya said. "Anthony and I never left her side after a nightmare."

"LaToya would sleep next to her and I would sleep in the chair on her beside," Anthony said. "Despite the constant neck aches, I never once let her be by herself. She's our little sister. We love her, so we protect her."

'No matter how annoying she can be sometimes,' LaToya thought loudly. I shot her a glance but smiled slightly.

"Anthony, LaToya I'd like for you two to come sit in these chairs here," the professor said. As they got up and each took a separate chair the professor continued by saying "Semina, I'd like for you to lay down on this couch. With your permission, I'd like to take a look inside your memories."

"What for?" I asked.

"The only way to acquire a more clear understanding of your pyrophobia is to see what you saw," the professor explained. "I assure you I won't go looking for anything unnecessary. I know how much you value your privacy."

"Um, okay," I agreed. "I trust that you won't."

The professor put his hands on the side of my head and I felt my eyes flutter as I drifted into blackness.

"Is she asleep?" Anthony asked.

"Not quite," the professor said. "I've put her into a temporary telepathically induced sleep. I fear going back to the day of Andres death might be too much to handle for Semina if she were awake."

"Wait a second," LaToya said. "You want to see how our brother died?"

"_We_ haven't even seen how he died," Anthony said.

A puzzled expression came to the professors face. "I don't follow."

"Semina was the only one who saw him die that day," LaToya said. "Not even our parents know exactly how he died."

"Where were you two when this occurred?" the professor asked.

"At school," Anthony said. "Semina was sick so our mom let Andre watch her even though he wasn't feeling good either."

"I wanna go in with you," LaToya told the professor. "I need to see what happened to Andre."

"Are you certain?" the professor asked. "Judging from Semina's pryophobia, I doubt it will an easy thing to watch."

"I'm sure," LaToya said.

"If she's going, so am I," Anthony said.

"Very well," the professor sighed. "You two seemed to have made up your minds. Place your hand on my shoulders and I'll take our minds in. But I warn you, what you may see could prove to be difficult to absorb."

Semina's Memory

_Young Semina sneezed and coughed as she sat in her bed, dreading her confinement to her room due to the cold she had. She reached to her bedside to grab another tissue to blow her nose but groaned when she found the tissue box empty. Semina irritatedly threw off her warm covers, wrapped a fleece blanket around her shoulders and slipped her feet into a pair of fuzzy purple slippers before tiredly walking to Andres room._

"_Andre, do we have anymore tissues?" Semina asked in a congested, nasally voice as she knocked on his door. _

_Andre opened the door and replied "Yeah, they're on the top shelf of the closet in the hallway."_

"_Can you get them for me?" Semina sked. "You know I'm too short to reach them and you're tall for twelve."_

"_You're such a munchkin," Andre smiled as he ruffled Semina's hair._

"_But you still love me," Semina countered playfully before she sneezed._

"_Let's go get you those tissues," Andre said as we headed toward the closet down the hall. "I see your cold isn't getting any better."_

"_Nope," Semina confirmed as she shook her head. "Are your headaches gone yet?"_

"_Uh-uh. They're actually getting worse," Andre said before he grabbed his head in pain. For the last few weeks Andre's been having random headaches. At first they were just minor but then they gradually got more painful._

"_Are you okay?" Semina asked in concern. _

"_I'm fine," Andre replied through his pain. Semina may have been ten but she's young not stupid.; she knew how much pain Andre was in even though he was trying to ignore it. _

"_How're your training sessions with Auntie Viv going?" Semina asked._

"_They're going alright," Andre replied. "I can turn my whole body into fire without burning myself and she taught me how to make and shoot fireballs last week. Do you want to see?"_

"_Mom told you not to use your powers when there aren't any adults around," Semina warned. "Especially not when your in the house."_

"_Fine, I'll get your tissues then show you outside," Andre said._

_They reached the closet and after Andre grabbed the box of tissues off of the shelf he yelled in pain, clutching his head as if he were going to break his skull. He dropped the tissue box in alarm as his hands, along with the box, burst into flames. The fire from the tissue box quickly spread throughout the closet and slowly began to eat away at the surrounding walls._

"_Andre!" Semina yelled as she lunged toward him._

"_Stop! Stay back!" Andre yelled as he scrambled to his feet and ran out of the house toward the grassy backyard. _

"_What's going on?" Semina asked in panic as she followed him outside. Semina watched in horror as the fire from Andre's hands slowly spread over his arms then to his torso. The fire burned causing his skin to bubble and giant boils began to cover his arms. Since the fire spread to his torso his shirt was now slowly burning away as well._

"_AHH!" Andre yelled in unfathomable pain. "HELP ME!"_

_A desperate idea came into Semina's head as she sprinted around the house and grabbed the large water hose attached to the side of the house. She turned the water on full blast and doused Andre in the water in an attempt to extinguish the flames. The fire stopped for a moment letting Semina breathe easy until the flames arose from Andre's skin once again, more vicious than before. Her relief, as quickly as it came, turned back into fear. _

_Semina darted inside but began coughing wildly as a thick screen of black smoke entered through her mouth. It burned her throat and her eyes watered as she tried to expel it from her body. Through watery eyes she saw how the fire that started in the closet had spread into the hallway where their rooms were and started to attack the living room. Picture frames filled with photographs of her family were now piles of ash on the floor, furniture were black and charred and the walls looked like they could barely hold up the roof of the house._

_Semina quickly but carefully made her way through the intense flames surrounding her and made it to the kitchen. She grabbed the cordless phone of it's receiver but immediately dropped it when she felt it's hot temperature burn her hand. Semina tried to think of a way to pick up the phone without getting burned again. She hatched an useful idea when she used the blanket around her shoulders to pick up the phone. She darted back outside but somewhere along the way, her blanket caught fire. Semina quickly threw it off of her and stomped the fire out. Her once beautiful purple and black zebra blanket was know horribly singed and smoky. Disregarding the state of her blanket, Semina carefully dialed 911 through the blanket and waited for the dispatcher to answer._

"_911. What's your emergency?" the female dispatcher asked through the receiver._

"_Please hurry! My brother and my house are on fire!" Semina hysterically. "You have to send someone now!"_

"_Please calm down. What's your address?" the dispatcher asked calmly._

"_1598 NW Lincoln Blvd!" Semina shouted. "HURRY!"_

"_We'll send some firefighters. They'll be there soon," the dispatcher said. "Please stay on the line."_

_Semina turned her attention toward her brother who was now on his knees, completely engulfed in flames. He was still very much alive, his screams of agony confirmed that. His once short wavy hair, along with the rest of his hair, was completely gone and his body was being burned beyond recognition. She could plainly see the muscles and tendons slowly but surely burning away leaving behind only charred bone. Semina felt the intense heat of the violent flames from where she stood and the smell of singed hair and burning flesh was overwhelming Semina to the point where she was near fainting but she refused to leave Andre. Semina faintly heard the wail of fire truck sirens and realized the firefighters would be there soon. However, Semina knew that they would never reach Andre in time to save him._

_"Andre, please stay alive! I love you, I don't want to see you die!" Semina pleaded through her tears.  
_

"_HELP! PLEASE HELP ME!" Andre desperately pleaded before he let out another howl of agonizing pain. When Andre screamed he released a ring of fire around him shoving Semina away from him and setting the grass around him aflame. _

"_I don't know what to do!" Semina cried out as she ran toward the ring of fir to try to get to Andre. She suddenly felt herself being lifted up by two strong arms and being carried away from her brothers smoldering body and fire ring. _

"_We have to get you out of here!" a deep voice which I assumed was a firefighters, commanded._

"_No! Let me stay with him!" Semina pleaded as I thrashed wildly in his arms trying to break free of his tight grasp. "I'm not leaving my brother behind!"_

_Semina bit down on the mans arm and as his hand flew up to the bite mark, she jumped out of his arms and ran toward Andre again. Two more firefighters came and caught her just before she made it in front of the ring of fire. Semina struggled to get loose but these firefighters held on tight and carted her away from the __her brother __and__ the now destroyed, burned pile of ash that was once her house__._

"_NO! ANDRE! I'M SO SORRY!" Semina yelled. Her voice dropped to a low tone and she whispered "I'm so sorry."_

_End of Flashback_

The professor retracted his mind, along with Anthony and LaToya's minds, out of Semina's memory.

"Wow," LaToya said as tears streamed down her cheeks. "No wonder why Semina is always so...detached from everyone."

"I had no idea why Semina's nightmares were always so bad," Anthony sniffled. "Now I know."

"Yes, what amazes me is that your sister has been able to not tell anyone about Andres death," the professor said. "Holding this in for so many years _**is** _the root source of both her pyrophobia _and_ her angry outbursts. She blames herself for not being able to save him in time."

I stirred on the couch and opened my eyes to find Anthony and LaToya with tear stained faces. "What happened to you two?"

"We saw what happened," said LaToya. "The night Andre died."

"Oh," was I could say. There was nothing I could do or say to comfort them right now. The way they must be feeling right now is probably worse than I how I felt the day it actually happened.

"Is there anything you can do to help with Mina's pyrophobia, professor?" Anthony asked.

"The only solution I can offer is to help ease her fears of fire with psychological sessions," the professor replied.

"Can't you just repress the memory?" I asked. "That way I wouldn't have to remember it."

"There's no way I can do that," the professor said. "The memory is far too strong to be completely repressed."

"So I'm just stuck like this?" I asked through an angst ridden voice. "Living in constant fear of something so primitive as fire."

"Semina, I trust that with time and help you'll be able to overcome this phobia," the professor reassured. "But it won't be an easy task to accomplish. It could take months maybe even years for the problem to dissipate completely but I'm willing to help in anyway possible."

"Thank you, professor," I chocked out in the form of a sob as I pulled him into a hug.

A/N: A short but informative chappie. Hit the little review button and tell me what you thought! Drama, in the form of Semina's ex-boyfriend, comes to Bayville in the next chappie! How is Pietro going to handle this? Read the next chapter to find out! ^_^


	16. Valentine's Day

A/N: Sorry! Yes I know this chappie is **_extremely _**late, but hey, I can only type and post so fast.

This chapter is set to: 'Love is You' by Chrisette Michele

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution or any song used in this story, so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

Valentine's Day

Today has got to be my favorite days of the year. It was the day where I most calm and happy, the day my empathy was never at rest and the most romantic day of the year: Valentines Day. I woke up with a big smile on my face and inhaled the fresh morning air as I opened the window to my room. I looked in the mirror and sighed.

'Guess it's time for the one day of the year I have to rock a pair of shades to school,' I thought.

After showering, I got dressed in a red wife beater that laid under my white half shirt with pink and red hearts, a short white skirt and a pair of red high heels. I brushed my hair and let it freely hang around my head. I finished my outfit with a pair of white sunglasses with dark lenses. I then headed downstairs where I met everyone else for breakfast.

"Good morning!" I cheerfully yelled.

"Looks like someones in a good mood," Scott commented.

"Why wouldn't I be? It's one of the best days of the year!" I said sitting down with my plate of food. "I absolutely _love_ Valentines Day! You know, despite the whole pink eye thing."

"Pink eye?" Jean questioned.

I was just about to explain before I heard footsteps and my loud sister coming down for breakfast.

"Ooh, little miss Mina got her shades on today," LaToya said entering the dining room with our brother.

"It must be Valentines Day," Anthony said.

"Mina, vhy _do_ you have sunglasses on?" Kurt inquired.

"See for yourself," I said taking off my glasses.

Everyone at the table looked at my eyes in awe. My usual brown irises were now a bright shade of pink.

"Your eyes are-," Scott began.

"Pink," Anthony, LaToya and I said in unison.

I chuckled at the look of utter confusion on their faces and said "Let me explain. With it being Valentine Days, peoples emotions of love and infatuation are at their highest. My empathy senses it and reacts to it positively thus the epic color change of my eyes. They'll only be pink for today though. My eyes will be back to brown tomorrow."

"Wow, I'd hate to be you today," Evan said.

"Yeah," Jean said. "Are you gonna hide behind those sunglasses all day?'

"Yup," I said. "It's been like this every year. And if Scott can get away with it, so can I."

* * *

At the BoM House

Tabitha, Toad and Fred watched as Lance paced back and forth across the room quietly muttering to himself.

Pietro, who takes the longest to get ready despite his super speed, descended the stairs and took look at Lance before asking everyone else "What's with him?"

"Don't ask us, speedy," Tabitha shrugged. "He's been pacing back and forth since we got here."

"The only time Lance gets like this is when it's about that loser Pryde," Pietro said.

"First off, Kitty is _not_ a loser," Lance said irritatedly. "And second off, don't you realize what today is?"

"Monday, duh," Pietro replied. "Anyone with a calender knows that."

"It's Valentines Day!" Lance shouted. "And I don't if Kitty'll like the present I got for her!"

"She should be happy you even got her something. I don't have a present for Semina and you don't see me bouncing off the walls," Pietro said.

"You didn't get her a present?" Lance asked incredulously.

"No," Pietro countered. "What's the big deal? I'm enough of a present as it is. And besides, it's not like she has anything special planned."

Just then Pietro felt a vibration coming from his pocket and looked at his phone to find a text from Semina. It read:

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

I hope u dnt have anythin' else 2 do 2day cuz I got somethin' special planned 4 us!

Meet me our usual spot when u get 2 skool.

C u soon 3

"Damn it!" Pietro yelled. 'What am I gonna do now?'

* * *

I looked in the mirror of my locker and fluffed my hair a bit. I applied a coat of sweet strawberry flavored lip gloss as I waited for Pietro to get to school. Before I left for school, I texted him to tell me to meet me at our usual spot by the oak tree. I decided to come and check on my appearance before heading there because I didn't want to look raggedy before I gave him his present. This is the first, and hopefully more to come, Valentines Day with him so I wanted to give him something to remember it by. After grabbing the present I hid it behind my back and made my way to our spot. I approached the table and saw Pietro surrounded by a swarm of squealing females trying to claw their way toward him. There had to be at least thirty girls surrounding him!

"Pick me as your valentine, Pietro!" one girl pleaded.

"No, pick me!" another yelled.

"I'll do anything you want!" yet another yelled.

"Ladies, ladies, calm down," Pietro yelled. "There's plenty of Maximoff to go around."

I angrily huffed before turning on my heel and starting to walk back to my locker. Pietro must've saw me because he yelled "But unfortunately ladies, I already have a valentine. Better luck next year."

The girls groaned as Pietro waved them away from him. After every girl left, I walked up to him with a raised eyebrow and a scowl.

"Oh, hey Semina," Pietro said casually. "What's with the sunglasses?" I took of my sunglasses and explained why my eyes were pink. "Ooh, sucks to be you."

"So 'plenty of Maximoff to go around' huh?," I said disregarding his statement. "I shouldn't even be giving you these presents but I will just to prove the groupies don't bother me."

I shoved the cubed present box wrapped in heart wrapping paper toward him and waited for him to open it. He opened it up and took out a small rectangular shaped booklet. It was a booklet of homemade coupons like "Forgiveness free pass", "One free lunch of your choosing," and even "Epic makeout session."

"These could be useful," Pietro commented.

"There's still more," I said.

His face soften slightly as he took out a simple black picture frame. The picture was of Pietro and I making funny faces in a photo booth at the Bayville Galleria mall the day after the party at the mansion. We each took home a roll of the pictures that day.

"There's one last thing that I'm guessing you'll like the most," I said.

Pietro's face lit up as he pulled out an enormous pack of Pixie Sticks.

"Yes!" Pietro yelled happily as he swept me into a bone crushing hug. "You know exactly what I like."

"Well Happy Valentines Day," I said flatly.

"Happy Valentines Day," Pietro said.

Pietro leaned down to kiss me but after a few seconds the bell rang so I abruptly broke the kiss and said "Gotta go to class. I'll see you at lunch. Be in the cafeteria though. That'll be part two to your three part present."

As I turned to walk away, Pietro grabbed my arm and asked "Are you mad at me or something?"

"Of course not," I said with a neutral expression on my face. "I don't have a reason to be. Now could you let go of my arm? I have to get to class."

Pietro let go of my arm and I walked back into the building, leaving Pietro alone.

"Oh, yeah," Pietro said to himself. "She's mad. Maybe I _should_ get her a present, but the question is: What do I get her? Okay, let's see. What's the one thing Mina really wants?"

Pietro thought and thought until a light bulb went off in his head. "The silver locket!"

_Two Days Ago_

_Pietro and Semina walked hand in hand through the mall. They were aimlessly wandering around, window shopping and enjoying each others company, until Mina stopped in her tracks._

"_What's the problem?" Pietro asked._

"_Oh my god! Do you see that?" Mina exclaimed as she ran up to a glass window display in the jewelry store._

"_See what?" Pietro asked._

"_That!" Mina said as she pointed at a beautiful heart shaped locket with small hearts etched on the front. "It's absolutely gorgeous!"_

"_Ah, the Eternal Love Locket," the sales associate said with a French accent. "You have impeccable taste, madam. A necklace made only of the finest white gold. It's simple yet elegant design makes it the perfect gift for your cherie on Valentines Day."_

_Pietro saw how Mina's eyes were twinkling as she looked at it so he asked "Hey French guy! How much is the necklace?"_

"_Oh no, Pietro you don't have to buy it for me," Mina quickly said. _

"_I want to," Pietro said. "So how much?"_

"_With the Valentines Day Sweetheart sale, the necklace comes out to about $250 dollars plus tax," The sales associate said._

"_That much?" Mina chocked out. "We don't have enough money for that. Thank you for your help, though. Come on, Pietro."_

_Mina grabbed Pietro's hand and guided him out of the store._

"_What did you do that for?' Pietro asked. "You know I could **always** get that necklace for you."_

"_Yeah, but I don't want you to steal it," Mina said. "It wouldn't be much of a gift if it was stolen. Just forget about it,okay. It's just a necklace."_

_Pietro wanted to retort a protest but held his tongue as he took note of the look of disappointment in Mina's eyes. Dwelling on the subject would only make her sadder._

"_Ooh!" Mina squealed. "A photo booth! Let's go take some pictures!"_

_End of Flashback_

"The real question now is how do I get it without stealing it?" Pietro wondered.

His eyes wandered around the courtyard he was standing in but he stopped as he focused on a happy couple making out against a tree.

"I think I just found out how to get that necklace," Pietro smirked as he formulated an elaborately stupid plan in his head.

* * *

Lunch Time

I tried to even out my panicky breaths as I stepped toward the piano that had been set up on the stage of the cafeteria. For my music appreciation class, our teacher Mrs. Sarano had asked us to perform a love song for the student body in the spirit of Valentines Day. As much as I tried to back out of it, she said I _had_ to do it because it was worth 60% of my grade. Singing in front of crowds was never easy for me but I knew I had to get through this.

"What's Semina doing up there?" Kurt asked.

"It looks like she's getting ready to play the piano," Evan said.

"Ooh, you guys are in for a treat today," LaToya said.

"Yup, our little sister can play a piano like it's nobody's business," Anthony added.

I sat down on the piano bench and mentally prepped myself.

'You can do this,' I thought. ' As long as you keep your focus on one thing, you'll do great.'

I scanned the cafeteria for a face to concentrate on and smiled as I looked directly at Pietro. I breathed a sigh of relief for him actually being there then started my introduction.

"Hey, my name's Semina Wilson and I'm gonna play a song for you guys," I said as the students began to clap appreciatively. I turned my head in Pietro's direction and continued. "I'd like to dedicate this song to all the couples at Bayville and to the guy I've been dating for a while. Happy Valentines Day, babe."

I felt around the piano keys and began to play the intro to "Love is You" by Chrisette Michele. I brought my mouth up to the mic and began to sing.

What's your definition of it? How's it make you feel?  
Tell me what'd you say that truly makes it real  
Kings and queens, philosophers have tried so hard to find  
Tell me what it means to you, dear, never mind

Love is kind when the world is cold  
Love stays strong when the fight gets old  
Love's a shoulder to lean on, love is you

Love's like the water when the well runs dry  
Quench my thirst, keep me alive  
Just need one sip, baby, love is you  
Love is you, love is you, love is you, love is you

Is it possible there's a kiss that's so divine?  
Or am I just too fool? Is it all in my mind?  
Is there something chemical? A scientist might say  
Well, love must be drug to make me feel this way

'Cause love's my permission to be who I am  
No inhibitions 'cause you understand  
Freedom to breathe, oh baby, love is you

Love's like a kiss when the sun goes down  
Holds me tight when no one's around  
Love's what I wanna hold on to, love is you  
Love is you, love is you, love is you, love is you  
Love is you, love is you, love is you, love is you

Love is kind, it makes me stronger  
I don't have to look no longer  
You're the one I'd cling to, love is you

When the chips are down  
Love will stick around  
I'm so glad I found, love is you

As much as I've tried to clarify  
Love's quite simple, he's just my guy  
A perfect definition  
Love is you, love is you, love is you, love is you, is you

After the last piano note, the students broke out into sweeping applause and I reached under my sunglasses to wipe away a couple tears.

"Thank you. Enjoy your Valentines Day," I said into the mic before leaving the stage and heading to where the rest of the X-Men and Talisa were seated.

"Vow," Kurt said stunned. "Zhat vas beautiful."

"Thank you, Kurt," I said.

"I thought it was weak," Anthony said. "You couldn't pay me to go up there and sing a stupid love song to anybody."

Talisa angrily cleared her throat and shot Anthony a glare that could melt metal.

"Uh, except to you," Anthony quickly said. "You know 'cause you're special."

"Mm-hmm, that's what I thought you said," Talisa said. "So, Mina. You mentioned 'a guy you've been dating for a while.' Who is he?"

"Um, he's...around," I blushed.

"So he's a student here?" Scott asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"Is he a nice guy or an arrogant jerk who only cares about himself?" Evan asked with a slight tone of anger and annoyance underlying his tone.

"He's a nice guy," I said. "He 's pretty sweet to me."

"If he's a sweet guy _and_ a student here, vhy haven't ve met him yet?" Kurt asked suspiciously.

"He's not ready to meet y'all yet," I said. "He doesn't think you guys will like him dating me."

"Why wouldn't we like him?" Evan asked with a raised eyebrow as he pointed toward the Brotherhood. "It's not like he's one of those guys over there."

"Oh, no! N-never!" I stuttered quickly. "Why would you even say that?"

"That Maximoff is pretty slick," Evan said. "And you have a lot of classes with him. I wouldn't be surprised if you fell into his lies."

"Do you think I'm stupid or something?" I asked. "Like I would fall for him of all people."

'It's too late anyway,' I thought. 'I've already fallen for him.'

* * *

After school

As Anthony, LaToya, Scott, Jean, Kitty, Rogue Evan and I walked down the hallway, I watched in confusion as I saw large groups of squealing females run outside toward the courtyard.

"What's with them?" I asked.

"Shoe sale, maybe?" Scott offered.

"I doubt it," Evan said. "There's only one thing that can make the girls of the school go crazy like that."

Just then Kurt came running toward us. "Guys, you have to see zhis!"

"See what?" Kitty asked.

"Just come on!" Kurt said as he ran back the way he came.

We all shrugged our shoulders and followed after him. When we got outside all of jaws, especially mine, dropped in disbelief at what stood before us. A wooden stand had been set up in the middle of the commons and there was a long line of nothing but girls leading up to it. A large poster hung from the stand with the words "Pietro Maximoff Kissing Booth! 1 kiss= $1" painted in bold red letters.

"I don't believe it," Kitty said.

"That's a long ass line," Anthony said.

"Every single girl in the school must be in that line," Scott said in awe.

"What a jerk," Jean commented.

"I'm surprised Semina's not in that line," Evan said.

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked angrily.

"I just figured, with you thinking he's cute and all, that you'd wanna kiss him too," Evan said.

"You know what," I began angrily. "I've just about had it with your accusations. LaToya, can I borrow a dollar?"

"Sure," LaToya unsurely said as she pulled out a single.

"What do you need a dollar for?" Scott asked.

"I'm going to prove to Evan that once and for all, I do _not_ have feelings for Pietro," I said as I made my way toward the kissing booth. I walked all the way to the front of the line and pushed the girl who was standing there aside so that I was directly in front of Pietro. Pietro looked at me in fear before masking it under a smirk of arrogance.

"Well, well, well, surprised to find you here," Pietro said.

"I came to see what all the fuss is about," I said as I slapped the dollar on the booth. The rest of the X-Men decided to see if I was true to my word, so they followed me over and watched.

Pietro gave me a soft five second peck and as much as I wanted to savor and deepen the kiss, I knew the X-Men were waiting for me to break the kiss. As we pulled apart I cocked my head to the side and said "Definitely not worth the dollar, Pietro."

"You know you liked it, Semina," Pietro said as he slid me a rectangular sheet of paper.

I took the paper, looked at it and said "Hmm, well played" before turning to Evan and saying "Satisfied?"

"Very," Evan said. I sensed he was unconvinced though.

"Good. Can we get back to the mansion now? I do have a date at 7:00 P.M to get ready for," I said loud enough for Pietro to hear.

I had decided to still give him the last part of his present because the paper he slid me was the "Forgiveness free pass".

* * *

"Wait, so let me get this straight," Rogue began. "So even after what just happened, you still plan on going out with him."

"Ya damn right," I said as I put on my earrings. "I put a lot of time and effort into what I planned for today, so I'm gonna force myself to enjoy it. Besides I wanna see what he has to say for himself."

"So you're just gonna forgive him like that?" Kitty asked.

I pulled out the piece of paper from my purse and gave it to her. "I gave him a free pass."

"I just couldn't do it," LaToya said. "I would kill first and ask questions later."

"Normally, I would too," I agreed as I pulled on a black and white knee length sundress. "But I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think he was going to be worth it."

"I wouldv'e dumped him, Rogue said.

"Me too," Kitty said.

"I hear that," LaToya said.

"Ugh, whatever," I dismissed as I pulled on a pair of strappy black sandals. "Hey, Kitty what did Lance get you for Valentines Day?"

"This," Kitty blushed as she held out her wrist. On it was a woven pink bracelet with the words 'PRETTY KITTY' weaved on in white thread.

"Aww," I said. "That is so cute. I wish Pietro would've gotten me something like that."

"Thanks, he was worried I wouldn't like it but I absolutely love it," Kitty gushed. "What did Pietro get you?"

"Not a damn thing," I said casually.

"And that doesn't bother you?" Rogue asked.

"Not really," I lied.

Pietro not getting me anything for Valentines Day was actually making me feel like crap. It makes me think he doesn't really care as I much as I thought he did and this whole kissing booth thing is just making me feel worse.

"Why are you dating him again?" LaToya asked.

"I honestly don't know anymore," I said before I grabbed my car keys and headed downstairs to get the picnic basket for my date.

I had planned a romantic picnic in the park with Pietro so I made us a simple dinner of chicken Alfredo pasta, fruit salad and for dessert chocolate fudge brownies. I got into my car and drove toward the Brotherhood house.

At the Brotherhood House

"How much did you make?" Lance asked as he watched Pietro count his earnings from the kissing booth.

"$375," Pietro answered excitedly. "Enough to buy Mina's necklace and still have some left over."

"I don't think you'll need to buy that necklace if Semina's just gonna break up with you," Tabitha said.

"What makes you say that?" Piero asked.

"You kissed 375 different girls!" Lance exclaimed. "I'd be shocked if she _didn't_ break up with you."

"I would," Tabitha said.

"Well I'm not dating **you**, am I?" Pietro asked. "Look I know Semina's not going to break up with me."

"How do you know that?" Lance asked.

"I used the 'Forgiveness free pass'," Pietro smirked. He looked at the time on his cell phone and said "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a necklace to buy and a date to go on."

* * *

Pietro and I walked through the park and found a comfortable spot on the grass for our picnic. I laid out a large red blanket and sat on it with Pietro following suit.

"So what's for dinner?" Pietro asked.

"Chicken Alfredo pasta, fruit salad and brownies for dessert," I replied as I laid out the plates and the food containers.

"Looks delicious," Pietro said as he took a plate heaped with cheesy pasta.

As we ate, I broke the silence by finally asking the question I've been waiting to ask.

"So, do you want to tell me what the hell you were doing this afternoon?" I asked in a calm voice.

"Is this about the kissing booth?" Pietro asked. "Because I have an explanation for that."

"I'm sure you do," I said as I rolled my eyes. "Let's hear it."

"I need money to buy something, so I put up a kissing booth to get some," Pietro replied like it was no big deal. "I figured Valentines Day would be the perfect day with all the lonely girls at school."

"You needed money? Money for what? What could be so fucking important that you had to kiss almost every girl in the damn school for?" I yelled angrily. I was trying to keep my cool but after hearing his reasoning I just lost it.

"I needed money for your Valentine's Day present," Pietro replied in an even tone as he pulled a small but long box from behind him.

"A **_present_**? ALL THIS FOR A DAMN...wait, what?" I yelled until I realized what he said and immediately calmed down. "Y-you bought me a present?"

"Yes," Pietro said. "I went through a lot of girls to get that for you, so you better be grateful."

I opened up the box and my once hardened, angry face softened. In the box was the silver locket I wanted from that jewelry store in the mall. I took it out of the box and opened it up. On one side was the words "Eternal Love" and on the other side was the picture of me and Pietro kissing in the photo booth.

"Read the inscription on the back," Pietro said.

I flipped over the necklace and read it out loud:

To Semina

"Even if I don't say it, I really do care about you."

-Pietro

"Wow," was all I said. I couldn't find any words to describe how I was feeling.

"Is that it?" Pietro asked irritatedly. "I went through all this trouble and I get is a 'wow' ? I can't belie-"

I cut Pietro off by pulling him onto my arms and tightly hugging him.

"This is a perfect present," I sniffled. "I love it."

"Are you crying?" Pietro asked.

"No! Okay, maybe a little," I replied.

"Are you still mad at me?" Pietro asked.

"Only a little," I said. "Just don't ever pull something like that again. If I _ever _see you kiss another girl that isn't me, I just might go insane. It was bad enough watching you kiss all those girls."

"Trust me, I don't plan on it," Pietro said.

"Good," I said as I looked around. All the other couples were too busy sucking face to notice what I was about to do. I touch the grass with two fingers, pulled the water out of it and put it up to Pietro's mouth.

"What're you doing?' Pietro asked in alarm.

"Don't talk," I said as I finished cleaning Pietro's mouth with my glowing healing water. "I cleansed your mouth of germs from all those desperate females you kissed today. Now look around the park. See all those other couples? Let's make that happen."

"No arguments here," Pietro said as we began to make out.

A/N: So cute! I know Pietro was OOC in this chappie but hopefully I can nail his character personality in the next two chapters. Hit the little review button and tell me what you thought of this chappie!


	17. The Ex Boyfriend

A/N: It's finally time to add some drama to the Mina and Pietro relationship! Brace yourself for the arrival of Mina's ex-boyfriend. Will they be able to survive it? Oh and there is a warning on language here, but hey, we're all teenagers we've probably heard worse.

This chapter is set to: "Beautiful Mistake" by Keri Hilson

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution or any song used in this story, so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

The Ex-Boyfriend

After ringing the doorbell to a large and beautiful mansion, a tall teenage boy patiently waited for it to be answered. He was about 5' 10", a rich caramel color, had a gleaming diamond stud in his left ear and was wearing a burgundy and white shirt with a pair of long baggy jeans with all white Nikes. He ran a hand through his short but wavy hair before the door opened.

"Hello, how can I help you?" Ororo said to the unfamiliar boy.

"Uh, hi. I'm looking for my old friend Semina Wilson," the boy said. "Her parents told me she's living here now, so I flew all the way from Richmond to see her. I'm sure she'll be thrilled to see me again."

"What is your name?" Ororo asked suspiciously.

"Darnell," the boy replied. "Darnell Barnes."

* * *

I tiredly dragged my feet to my locker after a brutal cheerleading practice. Bayville had a cheerleading competition coming up in a few weeks, so we have to practice harder to place higher than fifth place. Which meant extra laps, more push ups and more complicated pyramids and tumbling to impress the judges. My muscles were on fire and my back ached from so much flipping across the gym. I got to my locker and the annoyed scowl that was on my mouth was replaced with a smile of joy. Pietro was a sight for sore eyes right about now.

"Wow, what happened to you? You look terrible," Pietro commented as soon as he saw me.

"Thanks, 'cause that's what _every_ girl wants to hear," I sarcastically said. "I had a hard cheer practice okay. Almost everything on my body hurts."

"I know how to make the pain go away," Pietro said as he leaned down and gave me a soft peck on the lips.

"Mmm," I said. "That's one kind of medicine I don't mind overdosing on. I think I need some more, Doctor Maximoff."

"Anything for my favorite patient," he smirked. He kissed me again and we kept kissing until I felt a sharp pain in my back.

"Ow," I said as I rubbed my lower back. "Maybe I should go home and put a heating pad on this."

"Come on," Pietro said as he took my hand in his. "I'll walk you to your car."

We walked down the hallway and out of the building to the student parking lot but I froze when I saw who was casually leaning on my car.

"Darnell," I muttered in utter disbelief. A swirl of old memories flooded into my head and with every memory came a different emotion. The most abundant emotions of them all, however, were betrayal and pure rage.

"There you are, Semina," Darnell smiled. "You always did keep me waiting around for you."

"Mina, who's that guy?" Pietro asked.

"That is my _**EX**_-boyfriend," I spat angrily. "Why the hell are you here Darnell? Didn't I make it clear I never wanted to see or hear from you again. It's been a year and a half since we broke up. What could you possibly want from me?"

"Whoa, put the horns away," Darnell said as he threw his hand up in defeat. "I just came to talk."

"I have nothing to say to you," I hissed through clenched teeth.

"Then just listen to what I have to say," Darnell demanded.

"I don't have to listen to you say a damn thing," I scoffed. "I've heard it all before."

"But-" Darnell began to protest.

"But nothing," Pietro interrupted. "Semina doesn't want to talk to you, so you can leave."

"Stay outta this, white boy," Darnell said. "This aint ya business."

"Then I'll make it my business," Pietro retorted defiantly.

"This is between me and her," Darnell said getting in Pietros face. "Stay. Out. Of. This."

"Make me," Pietro challenged.

"Pietro, let me handle him," I said. "Look Darnell, whatever you have to say to me, just save it. We aint together anymore. I'm happy here, so leave me the fuck alone."

"Oh, so that's how you feel, huh?" Darnell asked.

"Yeah, that's how I feel," I replied nastily. "Now, I'm gonna get in my car and I'm going to drive myself home. Don't _ever_ try to talk or see me again 'cause God only knows what I might do to you if you do."

With that, I turned away from him, got in my car and drove out of the parking lot with Pietro.

"God, the nerve of the boy," I angrily said through clenched teeth. "Showing his face 'round here after this time. Can you believe him?"

"Semina, you do realize that you're doing 65 in a 30 mile zone, right?" Pietro asked.

"Oh," I said. I hadn't realized I was pressing my foot so hard on the gas.

"What's the story with you two?" Pietro asked.

"That's a story that I really do not want to talk about right now," I said.

"Why not?" Pietro asked.

"Because I just don't!" I snapped as I pulled into the BoM house driveway. "I broke up with him a long time ago and we haven't spoken to each other since. End of story."

"Okay, fine," Pietro said. "I won't try to be nosy."

"Thanks for being so understanding," I said before I kissed his cheek. "Trust me, things between Darnell and I are over, so you don't need to get so jealous."

"Who said I was jealous?" Pietro scoffed.

"My powers," I said smugly.

"Damn empathy," Pietro muttered.

"But it was extremely sweet how you were so protective of me," I said. "That deserves a reward."

I grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him into a kiss.

"Playing the hero can be worth it sometimes," Pietro said. He kissed me one last time before he said "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye Pietro," I waved. "Tell the guys I said hi."

As much as I tried to forget what just happened, I couldn't stop replaying the scene between me and Darnell. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. I drove to the mansion and angrily stormed into the mansion after I parked my car. When I got in the house I unintentionally and loudly slammed the door behind me.

"Yikes, vhat's eating you?" Kurt asked.

"I don't wanna talk about it right now," I said stomping up the stairs.

"Do you think we should go talk to her?" Latoya asked Anthony.

"I think it's better if we just leave her alone," Anthony replied. "You know how Mina gets when shes mad."

"But you can't help but wonder what's bothering her," LaToya commented. "She only gets this way over a boy and she's told me things between her and Pi-, I mean the guy she's dating are going great."

LaToya couldn't help but mentally kicking herself for almost giving away the secret. She looked at Kurt and Anthony with the hopes that they didn't notice it. They each had a raised eyebrow of suspicion but neither of them questioned it.

"Hey isn't it time for your Danger Room session with Logan session?" LaToya asked in an attempt to change the subject.

"Oh right," Anthony said. "Come on, Kurt."

Two hours later in Semina's Room after the session

"I can't believe it!" I muttered angrily as I lay sprawled on her bed with a heating pad pressed to my lower back. "The nerve of him! Who the hell does he think he is? After all this time he flew all the way from Richmond and decides to show his face to me."

_A year and a half ago_

_Semina walked down the street on her way to visit her boyfriend, Darnell. Darnell didn't know she was on her way to his house because she was going to surprise him with a gift. Today was their four month anniversary and she couldn't have been happier._

_'Four months already,' Semina thought. 'I never thought a boy could make me this happy but...'_

_Semina let her thoughts trail off before she reached Darnell's house door. Instead of knocking or ringing the bell, she reached under the doormat and pulled out the spare key to his house. As she opened the door she was puzzled by the odd silence of the house. Around this time, Darnell would be sitting in front __of his TV playing video games on his Xbox 360 like he usually does. Semina heard a thumping noise from upstairs and slowly crept to Darnell's room to investigate. As she neared his door she heard loud panting and erotic moans. She burst through the door and let out a shocked gasp as she saw her boyfriend, naked and in the middle of having sex, with a naked female on his bed. The two who were startled by the sound of the door opening looked up at who entered. The female tried her best to hide herself with the sheet covers while Darnell looked at Semina with panicked and guilty eyes. _

_He tried covering himself while he sputtered "Semina, I swear it's not what it looks like!"_

_Semina ignored his words as she stood frozen in the doorway. Angst racked her body in the form of heart wrenching tears before her explosive temper took over and she slowly and dangerously stalked over to the bed and ripped the covers off the girl. Surprise and hurt flashed her face as she stared down at Janay, the captain of the cheerleading squad who happened to be one of her close friends._

"_S-semina, I'm so sorry," Janay apologized. "I-I just-"_

_Janay's sentence was cut short as Semina grabbed her by the long and expensive weave she had on her head and slammed her on the ground. Semina began pounding on her until Darnell, now clad in a pair of boxers, grabbed her arms and pulled her off of Janay. Semina wrestled out of his grip and pushed him away from him. _

"_Semina, baby, please let me explain," Darnell pleaded._

"_You don't have to explain anything!" Semina yelled. "I'm __**so**__ sorry I interrupted you two. You don't have to worry about me walking in on y'all anymore because when I walk out of this house, I'm walking out of your life too. I hope you and that backstabbing bitch are happy together. Oh and here's your gift."_

_She threw the gift wrapped box through his window, shattering the glass the same way Darnell had just shattered her heart, before saying "Happy fucking anniversary." Semina looked at the two in pure hatred before running down the stairs and out of the house._

A knock that came from my door snapped me back into the real world. I wiped her tears and I rudely said "Go away!" without even bothering to sense who's mind it was. The person obviously didn't listen because they came in anyway.

"I said go away," I repeated.

"What's the matter with you, sprinkler?" Logan gruffly asked. "You've been in a bad mood since you got home and it showed in your Danger Room session."

Semina was trying her best to ignore him but she knew he was right. During the session, Mina missed every target she aimed for, accidentally froze Scott and Rogue to the wall and was the last person to reach the platform _after_ the time was already called.

"Nothing, it's just guy trouble," I sighed. "You of all people wouldn't want to hear about it."

"You're right, I don't, " Logan agreed. "But whatever the problem is it's not as major as you're making it out to be. You need to get your head straight and not let it effect you. "

Mina soaked in his words and finally responded "I guess you're right."

"Now, come on," Logan said. "It's time for dinner."

"Thanks Logan," I said as I gave him a hug. He kind of just awkwardly and stiffly stood there but I wasn't expecting him to hug me back anyway.

I followed Logan downstairs where we found everyone already seated and eating their dinners. I took my usual seat between Kurt and Kitty and picked at the meatloaf Ororo made. Even after Logan's brief chat with me I wasn't feeling any better about the whole Darnell thing. I was too absorbed starting at my still full plate of dinner that I didn't even notice the doorbell ring and Ororo answer it until she came back into the dining room.

"Semina, there's someone would like to see you," Ororo said. Everyone looked up from their plates and conversations to see who was there. When Anthony, LaToya and I looked into the face of my visitor, we all flushed red with anger.

"I can't believe this!" I yelled as I threw my fork down.

"Oh not this joker again," LaToya irritatedly said. "Why are you here?"

"Nah, homeboy, you gotta get out," Anthony said as he got up. " 'Cause I aint afraid to make you."

Every began whispering things like 'Who is that?', 'He's kinda cute' and 'Semina's gonna kill him'. I gave Darnell fair warning earlier in the parking lot when I said I didn't know what I would do if I saw him again because something inside just snapped and all the pent up anger from our past relationship resurfaced.

"What the _hell_ are you doing here?" I yelled and I got out of my seat and into his face. Kurt had to come and hold my arms because he and I both knew I was going to eventually hurt Darnell. "Are you hard of hearing or something? Didn't I tell you two hours ago to leave me alone? And yet you're still here! How the fuck did you even know where I live?"

"Semina, watch your language," Logan warned.

"May I ask who you are?" the professor inquired.

"I'm Darnell Barnes," Darnell replied. "I'm an old friend of Semina's."

"Old friend my ass!" I yelled. "The term you're looking for is 'two-faced, cheating, good for nothing _EX_-BOYFRIEND!"

"You need to leave Darnell," LaToya stated. "You already hurt her once and we aint gonna let it happen again."

"I'm not going until Semina sits down and talks to me," Darnell said as he began to reach for my arm.

Anthony caught his hand and warned "Don't touch my sister or I'll break every bone in your hand."

"Come on, Semina. Listen to what I have to say," Darnell said. "You at least owe me that."

"I don't owe you not a damn thing!" I shouted at him. "You made sure of that when you cheated on me!"

"At least hear me out," Darnell pleaded.

"Why should I?" I asked. "Give me one good reason why I should!"

"Because you know deep down that you still have feelings for me!" Darnell yelled losing his once calm demeanor. "Otherwise you wouldn't be this upset!"

I was going to yell an angry retort until my voice caught in my throat after hearing what he just said. Tears of both anger and pain threatened to spill from my eyes but I kept them at bay and chocked out "Just please go away. Can't you see how much pain you're causing me? Me and my boyfriend are happy together so just go and leave me alone."

"Oh yeah, you and the white pretty boy," Darnell chuckled. "A guy like that doesn't look like he'd be committed to any girl. It's probably just a matter of time before he cheats on you too."

"Take it back!" I said trying to lunge at him but Kurt kept a firm grip on me so I didn't go anywhere. "He would never do that!"

"Look, all I'm asking is that you talk to me," Darnell said as he pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to me. "Please meet me at this address tomorrow because I'm not giving up on you and I never will."

With that, Darnell proceeded out of the dining room and I heard the door close as he left the mansion. I crumpled the paper in my hand and tightly gripped it before dashing upstairs to my room, leaving behind a table of confused mutants and a trail of tears.

* * *

The next day, I walked around both school and the mansion in a hostile mood. I had enough sense to keep my mouth shut otherwise I would say something I would regret but I shot everyone who looked at me an evil glare. I didn't even sit with Pietro at lunch! I sat by myself in the commons away from everyone else until Pietro came and found me.

"What're you doing sitting here by yourself?" Pietro asked.

I cast him a look that said "Leave me alone or I'll hurt you" before looking back down at my half eaten lunch.

"What's with the angry look?" Pietro snapped. "Are you still angry that your ex-boyfriend showed up?"

"So what if I am?" I snapped back. "It's none of your business."

"I think it _is_ my business when the girl I'm dating is still hung up over her ex," Pietro said.

"Why does everyone keep telling me that?" I yelled at him. "I have don't have feelings for Darnell anymore!"

"Then why are you being so defensive?" Pietro asked.

"Why are you being so nosy?" I retorted.

"Why the hell are you yelling at me for?" Pietro shouted.

"I DON'T KNOW!" I screamed.

"Look I didn't come to pick a fight with you," Pietro exasperatedly said.

"Then why did you come and find me?" I asked. I realized that I had no reason to be mad at Pietro and started to calm down.

"Your sister told me to come talk to you," Pietro said as he crossed him arms.

'Nice to know you came 'cause _you_ were worried about me,' I thought bitterly.

"So talk," I said as I offered him a seat next to me.

"Why are you so much madder today than yesterday?" Pietro asked.

"Well, Darnell decided to show up to the mansion and give me this," I replied as I held him the crumpled up note.

" 'Can we talk over lunch on Friday? I'll be waiting for you at the address below. Please, please, _please_ meet me there. I'll be waiting'," Pietro read aloud. "What a load of bullshit."

"That's what I said," I wryly chuckled. "He's out of his mind if he thinks I can forgive him."

"What did he do to you in the first place?" Pietro asked.

"He cheated on me," I replied irritatedly. "I walked in on him and the cheerleading captain going at it. I'll probably never forget the feeling of being cheated on or the image of them together."

A long silence hung in the air before Pietro spoke up.

"Well, I give you my word that I'll never dream of cheating on you," Pietro said pulling me into a hug.

"Good because I probably couldn't stand the thought of being cheated on again," I replied. 'Or losing you for that matter.'

"So, are you going?" Pietro asked.

"Going where?" I asked.

"To lunch with him," Pietro replied.

"What makes you think I would?" I asked.

"Well you never threw away the note," Pietro muttered.

"And that automatically means that I'm considering it?" I impetuously asked as my anger started to resurface.

"There you go getting all defensive again," Pietro said as he threw his hands up in annoyance. "Maybe you _should_ go if you're getting upset about him."

"Maybe I should," I angrily snapped.

"Fine! There's no one stopping you!" Pietro yelled as he began to walk away. "Go! See if I care!"

I angrily humphed before storming away in the opposite direction.

* * *

I grabbed my keys, wallet and phone and threw them into my purse before stuffing the note in my jeans pocket and jogging downstairs.

"Semina, where are you going?" Scott asked as I passed him and Jean on the stairs.

"Out. I'll be back later," I simply answered before disappearing out of the door.

I didn't tell anyone I was _actually_ going to talk to Darnell because it was my problem to deal with. If I wanted my relationship with Pietro to keep going good, I had to deal with one of the skeletons in my closet and receive closure by at least talking to Darnell.

At the BoM House

Lance knocked on Pietro' s door to ask him what the noise coming from his room was but instead of opening the door Pietro just yelled "Piss off!"

"What's your problem?" Lance asked bursting into his room in a rude manner. He scowled as he saw Pietro pacing across the floor in super speed.

"Hey knock it off!" Lance said.

"Leave-me-alone-Lance!" Pietro yelled.

"I'll leave you alone when you stop destroying the downstairs ceiling," Lance said. "What's with the pacing anyway? Did you get into a fight with Mina or something?"

"Who-told-you-that?" Pietro asked as he ran up to Lance.

"I was just guessing," Lance replied. "What are you two fighting about?"

"Her-stupid-ex-boyfriend-came-to-Bayville-looking-for-her-so-she-got-mad-at-him, then-he-came-to-the-mansion-and-she-got-more-mad-and-took-it-out-on-me-because-he-invited-her-out-for-lunch-then-we-argued-and-now-she's-at-lunch-with-him!" Pietro yelled. "And-she-told-me-she-doesn't-have-feelings-for-him-anymore-but-I-think-she-does."

Lance stared at Pietro for a couple minutes trying to make sense of what he just said and after what seemed like years to Pietro Lance finally said "Well don't you trust Semina to handle herself?"

Pietro hesitated before saying "Well, I guess so."

"Then stop overreacting," Lance said. "Semina isn't the person you need to worry about."

"Oh, I see what you're saying," Pietro said. "I need to be concerned with that ex of hers. I'm-going-to-go-make-sure-he-doesn't-try-anything-with-her."

"That's not what I meant!" Lance shouted after him. He sighed before saying "At least I got him to stop pacing."

* * *

I walked up to the door of the small but quaint restaurant and immediately froze as I put my hand on the handle.

'What the hell am I doing here?' I thought as I unconsciously reached for my locket. 'Talking about anything with him won't change what happened in the past. Maybe I can l go before he even realizes I showed up.'

I began to take my hand off the handle but instead of letting it go and turning away, my feet and hands disobeyed my brain and I entered the restaurant. I looked around at the people seated at the tables and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Darnell was no where in sight.

"Excuse me?" someone said from behind me I turned around and behind me stood a well-dressed man who I assumed was the host of the restaurant "Are you Semina Wilson?"

"Um, yes," I answered cautiously. "How do you know my name?"

"I'm here to escort you to your table," the host said. "Right this way, madam."

As much as I didn't want to, I reluctantly followed the host to a dimly lit corner of the restaurant full of candles, a single table with two silver lids on it and two chairs, one of which contained Darnell.

"Semina, you showed up," Darnell said with a surprised look on his face. "I didn't think you would."

'Neither did I,' I thought.

"Here have a seat," Darnell said pulling out my chair. I scoffed and rolled my eyes before taking a seat.

"Well I'm here, so you _better_ have something to say," I said cutting to the point.

"Okay, then I'm not going to sugarcoat anything," Darnell said getting on his knee. "A year and a half ago, I made the biggest mistake of my life and that was cheating on you. I'm honestly saying that I never meant to cheat on you and I regret it to this day. At the time, I didn't know how much you breaking up with me would effect me." Darnell cupped my hand between his and continued by looking me in the eye and saying "I flew here from Richmond to tell you that I want- no I _need_ you back. Please, I'm begging you. Give me another chance, Semina. I still love you and I'll _never_ stop loving you."

Tears streamed down my face at the him saying he still loved me but a loud slap and winces were heard around the restaurant as I roughly struck my hand against his cheek.

"How dare you," I said in a hushed tone as I snatched my hand back as if his hands were on fire. "How dare you even say that you still love me. Do _you_ even believe the bullshit that comes out of your mouth because I don't. If you 'love' me, answer me this: Why did you sleep with that bitch when we were together? Huh? You can't answer me because you don't have a reason. You can't tell me that you 'accidentally' fell into her pussy. I'll admit there was a time when I loved you but that was in the past and right now in the present, Pietro is really close to taking your place in my heart. It was a mistake coming here and an even bigger one ever being with you."

I turned around, wiped my tears and ignored the patrons looking on with their mouths agape as I walked out of the restaurant and onto the sidewalk but Darnell yelled "No! I'm not going to lose you again!" before running up behind me, whipping me around and pressing his lips against mine. Pure shock and surprised is what kept me stiff in his arms before I roughly pushed him off of me. When he used to kiss me there was a tingle that ran through my body and my body felt all warm and fuzzy but this time it was cold, stiff and full of desperation.

"You just don't understand do you?" I asked as I furiously wiped my lips. "I don't love you anymore! There's nothing left between us expect deception. We were a beautiful mistake and your desperation to salvage our previous relationship is absolutely pathetic."

"Why can't you just forget what happened and forgive me?" Darnell asked.

"Because even if I forgive you it won't change the past," I said as I walked toward my car.

"Don't walk away when I'm talking to you!" Darnell yelled as he grabbed my arms and squeezed them tightly.

"Let me go!" I yelled as he tightened his grip. I could feel the pressure from hands were causing bruises on my skin.

"Not until you take me back!" Darnell yelled as he shook me and squeezed my arms more tightly.

"Let her go!" I heard a familiar voice yell before Darnell flew back from a punch delivered into his nose. Pietro sped in front of me and began to throw punch after punch onto Darnell while he was on the ground holding his now bloody nose. Darnell managed to get onto his feet and throw a solid punch into Pietro's left eye. People around the street stopped and looked in on the fight. Pietro and Darnell exchanged more blows before I ran forward and tried to stop them. I soon heard police sirens and almost at once policemen sprung out of their cars and carted Pietro and Darnell, who were both struggling and trying to resist, into their squad cars and drove them toward the Bayville Jail.

* * *

I ran into the prison and went up to the front desk officer.

"Can you tell me where they're keeping Pietro Maximoff?" I asked.

"Right down this hallway," the officer replied. "I need to get your information if you intend on visiting him."

"Oh yes of course," I said pulling out my wallet and handing him my driver's license.

He ran it through the computer and asked "You're not listed as family. What's your relation ship with him?"

"I'm his girlfriend," I replied. "Please, you have to let me see him."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," the officer said. "You either have to come back with a family member or a legal guardian."

"Can't you make an exception?" I pleaded.

"No can do," he replied.

'You wanna bet,' I thought angrily as I took control of his mind and changed his state of mind.

"But I suppose I could allow it just this one time," the officer smiled.

"Thank you so much," I smirked as I ran toward the holding cells after getting a visitors pass picture and thumb print id taken.

I was almost to the cells when I heard Darnell and Pietro each in separate cells arguing with each other.

"This is all your fault!" Darnell shouted.

"My fault? You're the one who was harassing my girlfriend!" Pietro retorted.

"We were talking!" Darnell shot back.

"Oh and kissing her against her will was 'talking'?" Pietro questioned. "You're so full of shit!"

"I bet Semina enjoyed it!" Darnell countered smugly.

"You bastard!" Pietro yelled as he ran to the bars and began to pull on them. "When I get outta here, I'm gonna kick your ass!"

"Bring it on, white boy!" Darnell yelled.

They both looked at the door as I burst in and in unison they yelled "Semina! You came for me!"

"No dumbass, she came for me," Pietro said.

"Keep dreaming," Darnell said.

"Pietro!" I yelled in relief as I ran to his cell.

"See what did I tell you," Pietro said triumphantly. "I'm better than you in every way and that's why she chose me."

"She only ran to you 'cause you look like you took a worse beating," Darnell said.

"Says the guy with the shattered nose," Pietro said.

"I'll break _your_ nose!" Darnell said.

"You couldn't even touch me!" Pietro yelled.

"I got you pretty good in the eye!" Darnell chuckled.

"Shut up! That was a cheap shot and you know it!" Pietro snapped.

"You shut up!" Darnell shot back.

"Both of you shut the hell up!" I yelled in pain from my empathy. "You're making my already massive headache worse!"

My eyes softened as I reached into Pietro's cell as lightly touching his now swollen shut black eye. I also couldn't help but notice the blood on his face and shirt. He isn't as badly hurt as Darnell but seeing him covered in my ex-boyfriends blood is a little disappointing.

"Ouch!" Pietro winced through clenched teeth.

"Why did you do that?" I asked.

"Well my eye's in pain so of course I'd say ouch," Pietro said.

"Not that," I said. "Why did you get into a fight with Darnell?"

"Because he was hurting you and it's my job to protect you," Pietro said as he tried to keep a straight face but I could still see the blush creeping onto his cheeks.

"Pietro," I said as I slid my arm into the cell and intertwined my hand with his.

Pietro raised my hand to his mouth and lightly kissed it. I could feel a strong source of jealously and sadness coming from Darnell and couldn't help but feel a little bad for him.

"Who are you?" I heard a voice behind me ask.

"I'm his girlfriend," I answered as I came face to face with a mean looking female police officer. "I have a visitor pass."

"Can I ask you to step away from the bars, mam," she said.

I reluctantly complied as I let go of Pietro's hand and asked "Excuse me officer, is there any bail set up for either of them?"

"Well, Mr. Barnes has a bail set for being a first time offender but Mr. Maximoff has had a prior conviction so he could be facing one and a half to three years in jail," she replied.

"You can't be serious!" I yelled.

"I don't joke about these things, mam," she said.

"I'll just have to bail you guys out," I sighed as I rubbed my temple. "Can we talk about the payment in the hallway, officer?"

"Of course," she said as she followed me out the door.

A few minutes later

Me and the police officer came back in and she unlocked the cells to both Pietro and Darnell's.

"You're free to go boys," she said. "Just don't me catch you back here again."

A shocked and confused looks graced their faces before they thought it was smarter to not argue and followed me out into the bright sunny outside of the jail.

"I'm glad to be outta there," Pietro said as he wrapped his arms around me before giving me a tender kiss.

"Like I'd actually leave you in jail," I said as I hugged him back ignoring the blood on his shirt soaking into mine.

"Why'd you bail _him_ out?" Pietro asked as he gestured toward Darnell.

"Because I have to drive him to the hospital and give him his plane ticket back to Richmond." I answered.

"Fair enough," Darnell sighed. "I think I finally see that I can't have you back. When I saw how worried you were about him, something just clicked in my head. You've moved on and so should I."

"It's taken you long enough," Pietro said.

"Wasn't talking to you," Darnell countered.

"Enough with the damn fighting," I said exasperatedly.

* * *

After driving Darnell to the hospital and the airport, I sat inside the Brotherhood house with a bucket of bloody water and a rag. I washed off all the blood from Pietro's face and gave him an ice pack to reduce some of the swelling on his eye.

"He he, looks like 'tro took a beating," Toad laughed.

"You deserved it for spying on Mina," Lance said.

"Shut up!" Pietro snapped.

"Guys, can we have a minute?" I asked.

"By all means," Tabitha said. "Let's let Bonnie and Clyde have some time to themselves."

"I'm so sorry," I apologized once the rest of the Brotherhood left the room. "This is all my fault for going to lunch with him in the first place."

"Well, it kinda is," Pietro agreed.

"You spying on me isn't any better but thanks for being there for me," I said.

I got up and dumped the bloody water down the sink before filling it with fresh water. I reentered the room and carefully placed a gloved hand of healing water onto Pietro's eye. It was going to take some time to heal completely but it was worth the effort. A couple minutes later the swelling was almost entirely gone and his eyes was returning to normal. I figured it was because his super speed sped up the rate of healing.

"How's that feel?" I asked. "Is the pain any better?"

"It's gone," Pietro said. "You're a pretty good healer."

"Thanks," I said. "I just don't want to see you get hurt."

"You're probably the first person to say that and actually mean it," Pietro said quietly.

"Of course I mean it. I care a lot about you," I said. "Don't ever question it either."

Pietro pulled me into his lips and as we kissed we heard snickering and chuckles so we both stuck up our middle finger and continued making out.

Thirty minutes later

After triple checking that Pietro was okay, I arrived at the mansion and tiredly stumbled into the door. I looked up at the clock and saw it was 12:15 A.M and looked around before trying to discretely make it to my room. As my foot touched the first step of the stairs, a throat cleared behind me and I slowly turned around to see the Professor, Ororo and Logan all scowling at me with raised eyebrows.

"Hey," I said nervously. "What're you guys doing up so late?"

"We were wondering the same thing about you," the professor said calmly.

"Where have you been?" Logan growled.

"Out on the most emotionally ruining lunch ever," I sighed.

"Lunch was at four when you left," Logan said. "Not eight hours later."

"Is that _blood_ ?" Ororo asked as she squinted at my shirt. "Whose blood is that?"

"Darnell's," I answered. "He broke his nose."

"How'd he break it?" Logan asked.

"Someone punched him trying to protect me," I answered.

"Why did you need protection?" the professor asked.

I took off my jacket and revealed the hand-shaped purple bruises on my arms.

"Did Darnell do that to you?" Logan asked as he popped out his claws.

"Yeah," I replied. "Don't worry though, I'm fine. Really!"

"You have bruises on your arms and you say that your fine?" Logan asked. "Where is that boy?"

"On a plane back to Richmond," I replied. "I personally bought the ticket. He's long gone and hopefully won't be coming back."

"What's that around your neck?" Ororo asked as she walked up to me and looked at the visitor pass from the jail. "Why were you at the jail?"

"I had to bail Darnell out for public fighting," I replied. "Do you guys have anymore questions for me? Because my eyes are puffy and red from crying, my arms are purple and I'm so emotionally exhausted."

Ororo and Logan both open their mouths to speak but the professor held up his hand and said "No, we don't. I've heard everything I needed to hear and I applaud you for telling the truth but that does very little to change your punishment."

I sighed and said "Let's hear it."

"For the next month you're barred from using your powers outside of training exercises, you'll be doing dishes everyday after cheerleading practice _and_ I'm tripling your sessions with Logan," the professor said. "Understood?"

Not having any strength to argue I simply replied "Yes, professor. I understand."

"Now go to bed, sprinkler," Logan said. "You're going to need some energy for your extra sessions with me."

"Goodnight," I said as I crawled up the stairs. The moment my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light.

A/N: Ooh, sucks to be her! So what'd ya think? Hit the little review button and tell me! In the next chapter I'm going to do something I've just been _dying_ to do! Here's a little hint: it has something to do with two blonde haters and someone is going to be **very** angry. Read the next chapter to find out who and why!


	18. The Break Up

A/N: If you read the chapter title, you know what's coming! Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end! It's time to cut the lovey-dovey crap and see some fire between them. Here's Mina and Pietro's break up! BTW: this chappies a week before Mina's punishment is over. ENJOY!

This chapter is set to: "Blind" by Electrik Red

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution or any song used in this story, so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

The Break-Up

Three weeks ago

_'I cant believe how close I've been letting them get!" Evan thought angrily as he watched Mina and Pietro kiss through his binoculars. 'They're practically inseparable! I need to bring in some help if I want Semina and Maximoff broken up. I just need the perfect plan.'_

_Evan looked around for some sort of inspiration and smiled as he looked at Misty laughing with the rest of the Pietro fan club._

_'She'll do great,' Evan thought deviously. _

Present Time

"Are you in place, Misty?" Evan asked through a walkie-talkie even though he was right around the corner.

"Yeah, Ethan," Misty responded as she leaned against Pietro's locker.

"It's Evan," Evan corrected.

"That's what I said," Misty said. "Ooh, he's coming!"

"Get in place," Evan said. "I'll give you the signal when Mina leaves the gym."

I opened my gym locker and took out my duffel bag. Before I closed my locker, I saw a white envelope drop to the ground. I picked it up and carefully looked at it. There was nothing on it but my name. I tore open the envelope and took out the letter contained within it. The only thing on the letter was the sentence:

"You should have listened."

I rolled my eyes at the letter before deeming it a joke and throwing it in the trash can. I walked out of the gym and down the hallway toward my locker where Pietro would be waiting to take me home. My car was out of gas and this was the fastest way to get home with constantly bothering Anthony for a ride. I heard a loud obnoxious voice talking so when I reached the corner before my locker hallway, I peeked around it to see Misty throwing herself at Pietro while wearing the skimpiest outfit I've ever seen.

"So do you wanna take me out tonight Pietro?" Misty asked. "I'll make it a night to remember."

"Thanks but no thanks," Pietro declined. "I'm busy."

"Come on, baby," Misty said. "You don't know what you're missing."

"Oh, I'm not missing out on anything," Pietro said. "I _do_ have a girlfriend."

"Since when has that stopped you from fooling around with other girls?" Misty asked as she twirled a finger around her hair.

"Well this girlfriend is better than the other girls I've dated," Pietro bragged.

"I doubt she's a better kisser than me,"Misty said before she got close to Pietro's ear and whispered "Let me refresh your memory."

My eyes widened in shock and surprise and I felt everything around me happen in slow motion because before Pietro had a chance to say anything Misty hopped into his arms and gave him a huge kiss. It's not Misty kissing Pietro that made a pain shoot through my heart but the fact that Pietro didn't even try to push her off or attempt to break the kiss. Instead he just gave into it and _returned_ the kiss. I started walking toward them and the closer I got the more heartbreaking it was.

"So this is the real you?" I asked. Pietro instantly turned toward me with wide eyes ridden with undeniable guilt. "I guess I should've listened to everyone warning me about you being a womanizer."

"Semina, it's-," Pietro began.

"Not what it looks like? Funny 'cause that's the same exact thing Darnell said when I walked in on him and the head cheerleader," I said. "And would you look at this? _Another_ boyfriend with _another_ cheerleading captain. Irony's a bitch, aint it?"

"_This_ is your girlfriend?" Misty asked before she began laughing. "This loser? I'm surprised you even dealt with a hood rat like her!"

I turned away from Pietro and looked at Misty for a moment before grabbing her by the throat and throwing her into the lockers.

"Let's get something straight here you little blonde bitch, if you so much as look at me wrong or I find out that you have my name in your mouth, I'm going to do much worse than throw you into some lockers," I said furiously through clenched teeth with a dangerous look in my narrowed eyes. "Ya got that?"

Misty wildly nodded in fear before I released my grip on her throat and immediately scrambling to her feet and dashing toward the exit.

"Semina, please let me explain," Pietro said as he reached out to touch me.

"Don't fucking touch me," I said slowly before turning my back to him and staring at the floor. "You can't somehow deny that you didn't mean to kiss her."

"But she came onto me," Pietro said.

"I know, I saw everything," I said.

"So why are you so mad?" Pietro asked. "You know I didn't do anything."

"Yes, you did," I said as I turned to be face to face with him. His expression was one of guilt as he saw the tears falling from my eyes. "You didn't even _try_ to stop kissing her. In fact you returned it and I'm pretty sure you enjoyed it."

"But-," Pietro said until I looked him in the eye, silencing him and said "It's over. Don't talk to me. Don't call me. Don't text me. Just forget there was _ever_ an us, okay? Because that way it'll make it less painful for the both of us."

"Semina, please-," Pietro began.

" 'Semina please' what? 'Forgive me?' 'Don't do this?' " I mocked. "Just stay the fuck away from me."

I walked out of the building and completely ignored the massive rainstorm that was raging outside. The perfect weather to match my inner turmoil. I slowly walked down the sidewalk to go back to the institute which was over two miles away and getting soaked in rain but not giving a damn about it. I was completely drenched in water right down to my underwear so somewhere along the way back to the mansion, I somehow found myself taking shelter in the park under the gazebo. As I sunk to the floor, I was helpless to fight the tears that expelled themselves from my eyes.

* * *

"Have any of you guys seen Semina?" Anthony asked.

"No, why?" Scott asked.

"She was supposed to be home hours ago!" LaToya said.

"She never came home?" Evan asked trying to hide the nervousness in his voice.

"No," LaToya said. "Anthony and I are getting worried."

"Maybe she's waiting out the storm," Jean suggested. "It's pretty bad outside."

"She would've called me to ask me for a ride," Anthony said.

"You're right," Kurt agreed.

"It isn't like Mina to do anything without telling _someone_ first," Rogue said.

"Do you guys think her boyfriend would know where she is?" Jean asked.

"Probably," Kitty said, "Let me go make a call."

"The rest of us will go out and look for her," Scott said. "Come on, everyone."

Kitty dashed up the stairs to find the phone and quickly dialed Lances number.

"Hey Kitty," Lance greeted.

"Lance, have you seen Semina?" Kitty asked.

"Not today," Lance asked.

"She's not there with Pietro?' Kitty asked.

"No. Pietro's here but Semina's not," Lance said. "Did something happen to her?"

"She hasn't come home yet," Kitty said.

"She's missing?" Lance asked. Pietro's head instantly perked up at the mention of Semina being missing.

"Yeah, the others went out looking for her just now," Kitty said. "Can you put Pietro on the phone? Maybe he knows where she is."

"Pietro! Kitty needs to talk to you!" Lance yelled. "She said Semina never came home and she wants to know if you know where she is!"

"What-do-you-mean-she-never-came-home?" Pietro asked Kitty.

"Slow down," Kitty said. "Semina was supposed to be home hours ago. I really hope she's okay. Do you have idea where she would be?"

"No, I wouldn't know," Pietro replied. "I-gotta-go!"

"Hello? HELLO?" Kitty yelled into the phone.

"I'm here Kitty," Lance said.

"Thanks for the help," Kitty sighed. "Bye."

* * *

Pietro carefully ran, without the aid of his super speed, as he searched for Semina.

"Semina!" Pietro called out. "Where are you! People are starting to get worried! SEMINA!"

He checked around every place he ever went with Semina and had no luck finding her. Pietro wandered into the park and as he reached the gazebo he heard quiet sobs coming from it. He looked inside and breathed a sigh of relief as he found Semina crying, soaking wet and huddled up.

"Semina," Pietro said quietly as he reached down and touched her shoulder. I looked up to see who touched me and my eyes filled with anger as I looked at Pietro.

"Don't touch me," I said as she shrugged his hand off.

"Semina, you have to go home," Pietro said. "You're soaking wet and your gonna catch a cold any minute."

"I don't care," I retorted defiantly.

"But I do," Pietro said.

"Yeah right," I scoffed. "If you cared you wouldn't have kissed her."

Pietro started to get angry as he said "But you know I didn't mean it. Why don't you read my mind and see for yourself?"

"I'm not going to waste my telepathy on you," I spat. "It's not like I could if I wanted to."

"What do you mean?" Pietro asked.

"_No_ telepath can read your mind," I said. "Not even the professor. Your stupid thoughts are too fast to catch and besides I'm not allowed to use my powers anyway. It's punishment for making sure you were okay after you came from jail."

"If you can't read my mind why don't you just trust and believe that the kiss was nothing?" Pietro asked.

"It may have been nothing to you but it was everything to me," I replied. "Seeing you kiss her just-just reminded me that I was right about you all along. You're an arrogant pompous ass who's completely self-centered, doesn't care what girl he hurts no matter how much they care for him and an egotistical cheating jerk! Now get the hell outta my face! You make me sick just looking at you."

"Fine!" Pietro angrily yelled. "If you're too stupid to actually believe me then I guess we really are over! I have plenty of other girls that would kill to have a shot with me, so losing you is no big deal to me! You _were_ right from the beginning, someone from the Brotherhood shouldn't date someone from the X-Men. We're just too different. So you stick to your team and I'll stick to mine."

After Pietro stormed away, I found myself crying even harder than before. The amount of pain that was squeezing at my heart was almost unbearable and one of my secret fears just became reality: I've just lost the boy I'm now realizing I'm falling for. After crying for what seemed like hours, I picked up my things and continued my walk toward the mansion.

An hour later

"Any luck finding her?" Kitty asked as everyone came back from their search.

"Nein and ve checked everywhere!" Kurt said.

"The mall, downtown, every restaurant in a three mile radius," LaToya exclaimed.

"And there was no sign of her anywhere!" Anthony said.

"Any luck with calling her boyfriend?" Scott asked Kitty.

"None," Kitty replied. "_He_ doesn't even know where she is."

"This doesn't make any sense," Rogue said.

"Maybe Cerebro can help find her," Jean said. "We could ask the professor to look for her."

"If it comes down to it, we will," Scott said.

Suddenly, everyone's attention turned toward the door and they heard it open and see a rain-drenched Semina enter through it. Sighs of relief were heard and Anthony, LaToya and Kurt ran to hug her.

"We're so glad you're okay!" LaToya said.

"Don't ever pull something like this again!" Anthony said as he hugged her tighter.

"Vhere have you been?" Kurt asked. "No one knew vhere you vere! Not even your boyfriend!"

At the word 'boyfriend' the tears started all over again.

"Semina, why are you crying?" Anthony asked. "Did that boyfriend of yours do something to you?"

My tears turned into sobs as I pushed them away and ran up the stairs to my room slamming the door on the way in.

"Semina, what's wrong?" LaToya asked as she banged on the door. "Open the door! We need to talk!"

"I'll get us in," Kitty said as she took Rogue and LaToya's hands and phased them through the door with her.

"Come on, Semina," Kitty said. "Talk to us."

"Yeah, it's not everyday when you come home drenched in rain and crying," Rogue said.

"It...happened...again," I chocked out between sobs. Sasha was in my arms licking my face in a way to console me. She's such a good dog.

"What happened again?" LaToya asked.

"She kissed him!" I cried as I buried my head in my hands. "And he didn't fight it."

"Who kissed him?" Kitty said.

"Misty kissed him and he didn't try to stop it," I sobbed. "How is it even possible that I found another cheater to call my boyfriend? God! I'm so stupid for thinking that we would have lasted! I just can't believe he would do this! He promised me he would never cheat on me and I actually believed him. Why did I let myself fall for his charm? All this talk about him actually caring about me and being different from the other girls he's dated were all lies. I just can't believe I fell for it."

"Semina, calm down," LaToya said. "He's not worth wasting your tears over. Trust me, me and Rogue will handle him tomorrow at school. Right, Rogue?"

"Yeah, we have a few choice words for him," Rogue agreed.

"It doesn't matter what you say to him. It won't change the fact that he willingly kissed her back," I said before breaking into a coughing and sneezing frenzy.

"Mina, you're cold and shivering," Kitty said. "How long have you been in the rain?"

"A couple of hours," I replied between sneezes.

"You need to go get changed into some warm clothes before you catch pneumonia," Rogue said.

"I'll be fine," I dismissed before I started coughing some more. "I just need-"

I didn't get to finish my statement before I began sobbing and sneezing again.

'Oh, Pietro,' I though sadly. 'Why did I have to lose you too?'

In Evan's Room

'I've finally done it!' Evan thought happily. 'I've finally ripped them apart! That'll teach Maximoff a lesson he deserves.'

* * *

The next day at school, Rogue and LaToya stalked down the hallway in search for Pietro. They eventually found him surrounded by a group of females looking just as smug and arrogant as ever.

"Beat it, chicken heads!" LaToya yelled to them before they immediately scattered away from him.

"Pietro, what the hell is your problem?" Rogue asked.

"Whatever are you talking about, Roguey?" Pietro asked coolly.

"You know damn well what's she's talking about!" LaToya yelled. "Mina hasn't stopped crying since she got home yesterday!"

"Well that's her fault for getting attached to me," Pietro dismissed. "She's the one who broke up with me for overreacting over a dumb little kiss."

"Overreacting?" Rogue questioned. "The girl is heartbroken and you're saying she's _overreacting_? Unbelievable!"

"Like I said before it's her fault for getting attached," Pietro said. "She knew about my reputation since the day we met. Semina knew _exactly_ what she was getting into from the beginning. If you ask me, I think she already knew how this would end but she fooled herself into thinking I could actually be tamed. Face it, she brought this on herself."

"You actually believe that she was expecting this to happen?" LaToya asked.

"Of course I do," Pietro said.

"You know, I'm gonna take some of the blame for this because me and Kitty told her to go after you," Rogue said.

"You should have told her to sleep with me, too," Pietro said. "I never did a black chick before and I would've loved to see her naked. It would have been just a one night thing because I would've booted her like I did with the other girls I've dated. Just because she's a mutant doesn't mean she gets special treatment. Semina's just another name to cross off my list."

"Another name to cross off your list?" LaToya seethed as she resisted the urge to blast him through a wall with her powers.

"You're a monster," Rogue whispered.

"I've been called worse," Pietro smirked.

"You listen up, Maximoff," LaToya began. "My sister was already psychologically and emotionally damaged to the point of being on the verge of a complete meltdown. We don't know what possessed you to kiss that bimbo back but now that you have, I hope you have fun knowing that you're causing my sister to suffer."

"Was there a point to all this?" Pietro yawned. "Because I'm failing to see one and you're starting to bore me."

"Wow, you're worse than I remember," Rogue said. "We're not sure what Mina saw in you but it's completely gone now."

"Whatever," Pietro dismissed. "Semina was just a challenge to me anyway. It's not like I _meant_ anything I said to her. And all this time I though she was smart. The girls at this school should know I will **never** tie myself down to one female because I'm a hot commodity. And that means I'm always in demand."

"So you've been playing with her emotions all this time?" Rogue asked.

"Ding ding ding! We have a winner," Pietro said imitating a bell as he began to walk away. "Now if you'll excuse me, now that I'm single I have a long list of new girls I'd like to, um, 'date'."

"You're just as evil as your father, Pietro," LaToya called after him. "Maybe even worse."

Pietro stopped in his tracks for just a moment after hearing her mention his father before turning back to Rogue and LaToya and asking "What did you just say?"

"You heard me," LaToya said. "Every second that passes by I'm seeing you turn into Magneto more and more."

"I am nothing like him!" Pietro shouted.

"Right now, you're just like clone of him," Rogue spat. "Pure evil devoid of any human feelings and lacking a heart or soul. You're more devil than mutant."

"And I hope you _suffer_ 1000 times worse than Mina is right now," LaToya hissed. "Because you deserve every bit of emotional torture karma can dish out and worse."

Pietro stared the two down before storming away once again. As Pietro turned the corner and was out of sight of the two girls, he punched a locker and let out a yell filled with anger: directed only at himself.

* * *

As I lay in bed, I found myself staring at the ceiling and picturing Pietro's face. His smile, his laugh, his smirk, his lips. The pain that I'm feeling hasn't ceased since I came home yesterday and I doubt that it ever will. There hasn't been one second all day when there hasn't been tears in my eyes and right now is no different. Ororo came back into my room and frowned as she saw me still crying.

"Semina, it's time for your medicine," Ororo said.

After being stuck in the rain for hours, it's no surprise that I caught the mother of all fevers. My head was pounding, my temperature was well over 135° and all this crying just made the stuffiness of my nose worse. Ororo held my head as she she sat me in an upright position so I could drink my medicine. After drinking the disgusting homemade African remedy, I sighed heavily.

"It's going to be okay, child," Ororo comforted as she pulled me into her arms and smoothed my hair the way a mother would do. "All heartbreak will heal with time and patience."

"I know that," I sniffled. "I just don't know why it has to hurt so bad."

Time did pass but unfortunately Ororo's words didn't ring true. Hours turned into days and days turned into weeks. Three and a half weeks have passed since Pietro and I broke up and the tears eventually dried up but the pain still rears it's ugly head every chance it gets. My red puffy eyes have stayed as a temporary reminder to my heartache and I haven't had a full nights sleep since. Pietro haunts my dreams and in every one, he breaks my heart over and over again. At the mansion I barely do anything besides wallow in my room and coming out to occasionally eat and train. It's no better at school though. I willfully quit the cheerleading squad and have been neglecting my assignments in school causing my grades to slip and take a turn for the worse.

In class, Pietro and I no longer acknowledge each others existence. I didn't switch any of my classes but I did move my seat away from him and got a new lab partner in chemistry. From what Lance has told me, Pietro hasn't been taking it as well as he's been showing. Lance says that he's been more angry and reclusive than ever and how he sometimes mutters my name in his sleep but I know Lance is just making these things up to try to cheer me up. Someone like Pietro isn't capable of feelings of regret for any wrong thing he's done. No matter how terrible it is.

I've convinced myself that Pietro never felt the same way for me as I did for him because it makes me feel better knowing he was faking it rather than him actually caring for me only to hurt me so badly in the end. Somehow the anger that I felt toward him has vanished completely. There's no sense in wasting my emotions on him and holding a grudge so I'm slowly starting to _**try**_ to forgive him for being, well, himself; but I know that's a damn near impossible feat. Maybe someday I'll be able to actually forgive him but I don't see that day coming very soon.

* * *

Pietro lay on his bed staring up at the ceiling. Mina's smiling face pops up on it when he looks long enough. The sight of her face always makes him angrier and defensive than he normally is.

'I haven't done anything I don't usually do,' Pietro thought. 'Everyone else is just blowing it out of proportion. So what if Mina's been crying for weeks, hasn't had sleep and is failing most of her classes. She's doing it to herself. I'm doing what I always do to girls.'

Pietro stared at the ceiling again just to see Mina laughing and giggling at his jokes the way she used to.

'So why is it this time I feel like shit?' Pietro added.

A/N: And that is the end of Mietro (or Sietro) So tell me in your honest opinion if you think that I'm finally on the money with the jackass that is Pietro's true nature! Hit the little review button and let me know what you thought of this chappie.


	19. Meant To Be?

A/N: Thanks for the nice reviews! It's FINALLY time for chapter with singing in it! YAY! This chappies for the people I made sad with the break up! Oh and don't worry readers this story is far from over. There's still _plenty_ of challenges for Mina to endure. ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution or any song used in this story. All lyrics belong to their rightful artist and record company. I'm not trying to steal any of it, so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

Meant to Be?

The Brotherhood walked down the hallway but Lance stopped when he noticed a bright yellow flyer hanging on the wall. As he looked closer at it, his face lit up.

"Hey, guys come check this out," Lance called to the rest of the Brotherhood.

"What is it?" Fred asked.

"There's a music festival celebrating the performing arts coming up in a month," Lance said.

"So what?" Pietro said. "Do you wanna get dressed up in tights and go perform like a pretty little ballerina?"

"No," Lance growled. "But we're entering this competition."

"Why?" they all whined in unison.

"Because first prize is two thousand bucks," Lance clarified.

"Two thousands bucks?" Pietro exclaimed. "I could finally get some decent shampoo for my hair!"

"Think of all the food we could buy!" Fred happily drooled.

"We could buy a huge flat screen TV, yo," Toad said.

"Or we could use the money to actually pay the bills that Mystique dumped on us," Lance suggested.

"All those things sound nice guys but there's a slight problem," Tabitha said.

"What's that?" Pietro asked.

"You actually have to have talent," Tabitha laughed.

"Who says we don't have talent?" Lance asked.

"Unless you plan on spitting slim, running around at super speed, throwing bleachers halfway across the school or causing an earthquake, I doubt you have what it takes to win," Tabitha said.

"Well I'm a pretty good on guitar," Lance said.

"So am I," Pietro piped in. "And you should _hear_ me sing."

"I know how to play the bass a little," Toad said.

"Think you could learn how to play the drums, Fred?" Tabitha asked.

"How hard could it be?" Fred shrugged. "Pounding on stuff is what I do best."

"There it's settled, you guys can be like a band," Tabitha exclaimed. "And of course I'll be helping speedy do the singing."

The guys grimaced and widened their eyes at Tabitha saying she would sing with Pietro. You see, Tabitha likes to sing in the shower and let's just say her singing is a cross between a cat being mauled and a monkey screeching from the pain of being shot by a hunter. But at least she's a better singer than Rebecca Black.

"Are you sure about that, Boom-Boom?" Toad asked nervously. "There's going to be a lot of people watching you."

"I'm not afraid of a crowd," Tabitha said. "I'm sure they'll love me!"

'Or boo you of the stage,' they thought.

"Are you _sure_ about that?" Lance cautiously asked.

"Absolutely!" Tabitha said. "Why are you guys trying to talk me out of this?"

"Because you can't sing," Pietro bluntly said. "We're just going to actually find someone with actual talent."

"Hey! Just because you're girlfriend dumped you doesn't mean you can take your anger out on me," Tabitha said crossing her arms.

"This has nothing to do with her!" Pietro snapped.

"Sure it doesn't," Tabitha said rolling her eyes. "Guys, tell speedy he doesn't know what he's talking about."

Lance, Toad and Fred looked around and innocently whistled or garbled a nervous reply.

"What did I tell you?" Pietro smirked. "Hey Lance, do you think Pryde could help us out?"

"Unless you want to sing something by Taylor Swift or Justin Bieber, then we're out of luck," Lance said.

"Great, now we're back to square one, yo," Toad said.

"Or you guys can just let me sing," Tabitha offered.

"No!" they all yelled in unison.

Just then Lance heard the faintest sound which sounded like someone singing.

"Guys quiet down," Lance hushed. "Listen."

What's the reason that I'm here again? It's crazy.

"Who is that?" Fred asked.

"I don't know but let's go find out!" Lance said following the mystery singer's voice with everyone else in tow.

* * *

I reached into my locker and began dumping the useless into the trash can next to me. My locker has been getting cluttered full of unwanted crap so I decided to clean it out. To make the work go by quicker, I plugged in my iPod earbuds and put my music playlist on shuffle. The first song to come up was 'Why R U' by Amerie, so I decided to flex my throat muscles by singing it. There was nobody around to hear me and it was the perfect way to describe how I've been feeling since my break up with Pietro.

I continued the cleaning until I ran across a picture of Pietro. I wistfully ran my fingers on the glossy picture imagining that his face was under my touch until I got a hold of myself and returned to my senses.

What's the reason that I'm here again? It's crazy.

I keep waitin' but I'm foolish 'cause you'll never change.

Wasted all my time and here I am still crying over you, over you.

Loving you was so hard  
(But I keep trying baby)  
I just end of with scars  
(Cause I keep fighting Baby)  
Loving you is like a battle that I can't afford to lose  
I can't lose 

So I'm asking you  
Why are you the only thing that I care about  
Why are you the only thing that I care about  
Why are you the only thing I think about  
Why are you the only one 

Baby you're no good for me, no  
You can't be, You can't be, You can't, You can't be the only one  
You can't be, You can't be, You can't, You can't be the only one

I took another look at the picture and tightly held it up to my chest.

And though I hate it  
Hate it that I can't forget you  
I try my best but I'm a mess cause I can't shake you  
Wanna call ya but my pride won't let it get the best of me  
The best of me, no 

Loving you was so hard  
(But I keep Trying Baby)  
I just end of with scars  
(Cause I keep fighting Baby)  
Loving you is like a battle that I can't afford to lose  
I can't lose 

But I'm asking you  
Why are you the only thing that I care about  
Why are you the only thing that I care about  
Why are you the only thing I think about  
Why are you the only one 

Baby you're no good for me, no  
You can't be, You can't be, You can't, You can't be the only one  
You can't be, You can't be, You can't, You can't be the only one 

It was only until I felt small droplets of water on my shirt that I realized I was crying.

No, can't believe that I'm still crying  
And no, It ain't because I ain't been trying  
(Losing sleep cause I can't help but think about the past)  
And how we didn't last  
How we didn't last 

Why are you the only thing that I care about  
Why are you the only thing that I care about  
Why are you the only thing I think about  
Why are you the only one 

Baby you're no good for me, no  
You can't be, You can't be, You can't, You can't be the only one  
You can't be, You can't be, You can't, You can't be the only one 

Why are you the only thing that I care about  
Why are you the only thing that I care about  
Why are you the only thing I think about  
Why are you the only one 

Baby you're no good for me, no  
You can't be, You can't be, You can't, You can't be the only one  
You can't be, You can't be, You can't, You can't be the only one

I hesitantly began to put the picture back in my locker until "Call Me When You're Sober" by Evanescence began playing and my anger resurfaced.

Don't cry to me, if you love me

You would be here with me

You want me, confine me

Made up you're mind

I looked at Pietro's picture again before resentfully tearing it in half again and again then sprinkling the shreds in the trash. I hate how much I can't just let him go because everything reminds me of him. I mean I can even smell his favorite cologne even though he's nowhere in sight! I sighed as I wiped away the stray tears on my face and continued cleaning out my locker. I was so absorbed in my singing that I didn't sense the five minds around the corner until I felt a familiar sense of remorse. I whipped my head to the side where they were standing, made a telekinetic wall behind them and pinned them into the lockers in front of them. Pinned to the locker was Lance, Tabitha, Fred, Toad and Pietro.

I tentatively walked up to them with the wall still in place and asked "Any particular reason why y'all are spying on me?"

"We were just enjoying the show," Pietro smirked. "It's no surprise that you were singing about me. I'm hard to get over."

I slightly raised my eyebrow before making the telekinetic wall that pinned him down stronger causing him to go deeper into the lockers. His strained yelp made me smirk and ask "You were saying?"

"Don't listen to Pietro," Lance reassured. "That's not why you're here."

"Well why have you graced me with your presence?" I asked suspiciously. "I never thought the Brotherhood would be here after school if it wasn't for a detention."

"We came to ask a favor," Lance explained.

"What kind of favor?" I pressed further as I released my hold on them.

"We need you to sing with us so we can win the music festival," Lance said.

"There are plenty of other girls that can sing in this school," I pointed out. "Why are you asking me of all people?" 

"You're the best person we can think of,"Lance said.

"What about Kitty?" I asked. "She can sing just as well as I can. Maybe even better." 

"Her voice isn't right for a rock song," Lance said.

"Then why not ask Rogue?" I questioned.

"Because she hates us, yo," Toad said.

"What makes you think I don't hate you?" I asked.

"You hate _Pietro_, not us," Tabitha said.

"Oh, I don't hate Pietro," I dismissed. "I just hate the fact that I was cheated on again. But hey it's not like I wasn't expecting it sooner or later."

"Way to trust me," Pietro muttered.

"Way to kiss Misty," I countered.

"So are you gonna help us?" Fred asked.

I thought about their offer and after a long silence of thinking I said "I'll do it."

They began to cheer until I stopped them by saying "One one condition. Pietro either has to get on his knees and beg me or I get to erase every girls phone number on his cell phone."

"What! No way!" Pietro exclaimed at the same time Lance said "Done."

They exchanged a look before they started arguing.

"Her voice is perfect for it!" Lance said. "Just do what she asked."

"I don't care how good a singer she is! I'm not doing that!" Pietro shouted. "I've worked too hard to get all of those phone numbers and I refuse to beg for anything! Especially for her!"

"Then you can forget about your stupid shampoo!" Lance shouted back. "Because she's the _only_ girl willing to do this!"

Pietro angrily huffed before pulling out his phone and shoving it toward me. I held back a smile as I went into his contacts faked like I pressed erase all. I tossed it back to him and said "You know what's funny? I would've agreed even if you had said no" before laughing and closing my locker.

"Then why did you just erase all those numbers?" Pietro yelled.

"It helps heal the heart that you broke," I boldly said. "If y'all wanna win, you're gonna need _all_ the practice you can. I'll be at the Brotherhood house after school tomorrow at 4:00 P.M. Oh and for the record Pietro, I _only_ erased _my_ number."

'And Misty's,' I mentally smirked as I walked to my car. I waited until I pulled into the mansion to release the tears I've been struggling to hold back from just being around Pietro.

* * *

The next day I arrived at the Brotherhood house and sighed.

'Why am I doing this?' I thought.

'Because you want to be close to Pietro,' the voice in my head said. 'You will probably never to be able to let him go.'

I rubbed my temples in frustration at the voices truth but ignored it and walked into the house. The guys were already set up with their guitars, drums and amps which begged me to ask "Where did you guys find all this stuff?"

"Uh, we know a guy," Toad replied.

"Okay, forget that I asked," I said. "So have y'all decided on a song yet?"

"Yeah, we're going to play 'Dream On' by Aerosmith," Lance replied.

"I absolutely love that song," I gushed. "Great choice by the way. There's some great guitar riffs and drumming plus the lyrics can be split into a duet. So who am I singing with?"

"That would be me," Pietro smirked.

"Whoa! No one told me that," I said.

"It's too late to say no," Pietro said.

I sneered before saying "Just try to keep up and we won't have a problem."

"You know I have no trouble keeping up," Pietro said.

I rolled my eyes at him and Fred asked "So where do we start?"

"First I gotta see what you guys can do," I said. "Lance, start us off by playing 'Take Me Out' by Franz Ferdinand."

Lance slung his silver guitar over his should and positioned his hands on the fret board and began to strum.

I hummed along the wail of his guitar and said "Fred when I point to you come in slow and steady, okay."

As soon as his part came up I cued him and he started to match the beat with Lances guitar.

"Pietro, get ready to come in on the rhythm switch," I said.

Pietro started playing and the sweet sounds of the song rang through the old boarding house. I sang along with them until the song ended.

"So how was that?" Toad asked.

"That was incredible!" I smiled.

"Really?" Fred asked.

"Of course," I said. "You guys have talent whether you know it or not."

"So do you need the lyrics to 'Dream On'?" Lance asked.

"Nope, I got it memorized by heart," I said. "So we're gonna have Toad on bass, Fred on drums, Lance on lead guitar and Pietro on rhythm."

"Wait, no we're not," Pietro said.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because I'm a better guitarist than Lance," Pietro said. "_I_ should be playing lead."

"Excuse us," I said taking Pietro's hand and leading him into the kitchen. After we got out of ear's range I said "You're gonna play rhythm and that's final."

"We both know I'm better so give me one good reason why I should," Pietro said.

'Okay, I'm gonna need to use reverse psychology here,' I thought.

"Because whether or not you're better you have the one thing Lance doesn't: a voice," I explained. "You can't play lead and sing at the same time if you want the song to sound perfect. But hey, maybe you _should_ play lead if you're scared people will absolutely hate your singing."

"There's nothing wrong with my singing!" Pietro snapped.

"Oh yeah?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Prove me wrong then."

"You're on," Pietro said. Pietro ran upstairs and a second later he came back with a CD that he inserted into the old stereo. He picked up his guitar and played along with the song.

I walk a lonely road  
The only one that I have ever known  
Don't know where it goes  
But it's home to me and I walk alone 

I walk this empty street  
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams  
Where the city sleeps  
and I'm the only one and I walk alone 

I walk alone  
I walk alone 

I walk alone  
I walk a... 

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me  
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating  
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me  
'Til then I walk alone 

Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Aaah-ah,  
Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Ah-ah 

I'm walking down the line  
That divides me somewhere in my mind  
On the border line  
Of the edge and where I walk alone 

Read between the lines  
What's fucked up and everything's alright  
Check my vital signs  
To know I'm still alive and I walk alone 

I walk alone  
I walk alone 

I walk alone  
I walk a... 

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me  
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating  
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me  
'Til then I walk alone 

Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Aaah-ah  
Ah-ah, Ah-ah 

I walk alone  
I walk a... 

I walk this empty street  
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams  
Where the city sleeps  
And I'm the only one and I walk a... 

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me  
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating  
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me  
'Til then I walk alone...

I found myself clapping and cheering by the end of the song and blushing like an idiot at the sound of Pietro's singing.

"I take it your blushing means I was good," Pietro smirked as I blushed harder.

"G-great job, Pietro. Your singing is really sexy," I said in a daze before everyone's face made me realize what I had just said. "Er uh, I mean, well trained. Your voice is _well trained_."

Pietro's smirk made my already red cheeks flash a deep crimson.

"Oh, god. Well seeing as I've made a complete ass out of myself I think I'm gonna go home and get ready for my Danger Room session. G-good job today, um, guys."

I quickly collected my stuff and raced toward the exit.

"Let me get the door for you," Pietro said as he sped ahead of me and politely opened the door.

"Thanks," I quickly muttered before getting into my car and speeding away.

Pietro watched as Semina drove off before going back into the house and being faced with angry looks from the rest of the Brotherhood.

"What's with the angry looks?" Pietro asked,

"Pietro, what are you trying to pull?" Lance asked.

"What do you mean?" Pietro questioned innocently.

"You saw how she ran outta here!" Tabitha said. "You're making things weird for her."

"What, by being nice?" Pietro said. "I'm just a courteous person."

"You guys just broke up a couple of weeks ago," Tabitha said. "I'm not sure why she agreed to help you guys but she did. You have to put her feelings into consideration."

"I mean you saw how she sang that song in the hallway," Lance said. "She's obviously not over you yet."

"Well duh, Lance," Pietro said. "I'm hard to get over."

The angry faces intensified before Pietro threw up his hands in defense and said "Fine, I'll ease up and give her some space."

* * *

For the next two weeks the Brotherhood and I practiced the song making little improvements and memorizing tabs and chords and we sound _really_ good. If Lance didn't already know how to play the guitar so well, learning the song would've taken longer. Toad's doing fine on bass and Fred's really taking a liking to the drums. They have _some_ talent so I just don't see why the X-Men have be so hard on them all the time.

"So did y'all hear about that music festival thing?" LaToya asked as we sat down for lunch.

"Yeah, Jean, Talisa and I are already signed up," Kitty said.

"Me too," LaToya said. "What about you Mina? With you're piano playing you got a good shot at first prize."

"I'm entered already too," I said. "I'm not playing though. I'm just helping out a few of my friends by singing." 

"Hey guys, I heard the Brotherhood signed up too," Scott said.

"What're _they_ gonna do?" Evan asked. "With their lack of creativity and brain cells they'll probably just do what they do best: destroy everything in their path. Or if we get lucky we'll be knocked out from Toad's B.O."

"Or shakedown over there will just bring down the house...literally," Scott joked.

"If Blob runs out of Twinkies of the day of the festival, he might start eating the people in the crowd," Anthony laughed.

Everyone at the table laughed except me and Kitty.

"Oh, oh I got one," Evan said. "And to top it off Maximoff is gonna make out with seven girls at the same time then tell all of them that they're not his type and kick them off stage."

I abruptly got up, threw my napkin down on my half-finished food and said "You know what? I just lost my appetite" before storming away. Evan just struck a nerve and I didn't think I would react this way about it but for some reason, I just got so angry.

"Can you believe those guys?" I asked as I punched a locker in the hallway out of frustration. "The Brotherhood isn't even that bad."

"Nice to see you're sticking up for us," Pietro said from behind me.

"Yeah, what of it? Y'all don't deserve half of the crap the X-Men say about you guys," I said.

"Still looking out for me even when we're broken up," Pietro said. "You really are one of a kind."

"I know," I blushed. "But thank you for reminding me."

"Is your hand okay?" Pietro asked.

"Oh this," I said looking down at my now swollen hand. "This is nothing. I've had worse injuries during my training in the Danger Room."

"Let me see it," Pietro said gently lifting my hand up to his face. He looked it over for a moment before bringing it to his lips and placing a soft but tender kiss on my knuckles. "There. Is that any better?"

"F-fine," I stuttered as I felt my heartbeat increase slightly. The bell ringing over our heads broke me out of my stupor and I quickly said "Well gotta go. See you at practice after school" before running down the hallway and trying to distance myself from him. I locked myself in a random supply closet and sank to the floor next to a mop.

'No, no, no, no, no!' I thought. 'I can't be falling for him all over again. Not after what happened with Misty. I just can't.'

* * *

"The music is already perfect so today we're gonna focus on the singing," I said. "If this whole duet thing is gonna work, Pietro and I are gonna need be in perfect harmony. So y'all can just chill today."

"But we put out the guitars and every thing already," Toad whined. "Those were heavy, yo."

"Okay, so how about I make it up to y'all," I said. "Chinese take-out on me?"

"I never argue with a free meal," Fred said.

"What do you guys want?" I asked. I jotted down their orders Beef with Broccoli for Tabitha, **General Tsao's Chicken** for Lance, Ten orders of Sweet and sour pork for Fred and Shrimp fried rice for Toad.

"You remember what I like, right Mina?" Pietro asked.

"Yeah, same thing as me," I replied. "Orange chicken with a side of vegetable lo mein-"

"With no carrots," we said in unison. We looked at each other and our eyes locked until I blushed and turned away first.

"So why don't we, um, practice while we wait for the food to get here," I suggested.

"Good idea," Pietro said. "Come on, we can practice upstairs."

I looked at him skeptically before he said "I won't try anything, I promise." I hesitantly started up the stairs after him and he lead me to what I assumed to be his room. The room was surprisingly cleaner than the rest of the house. There was a bathroom on the left side of the room and two windows overlooking the front of the boarding house on the right. In the middle was a large full-sized bed and around the room were posters of bands like Green Day, Styles of Beyond and a fairly new poster of Anarbor.

"Is this poster new?" I asked as I pointed to it.

"Uh, yeah," Pietro said with his back turned. "I listened to their albums and you were right. They are pretty good."

I continued looking around the room and a weak smile came to my face as I found the picture I gave him for Valentine's day sitting on the dresser next to his bed.

'I-I can't believe he actually kept that,' I thought. 'Does this mean he still cares? Wait, what am I thinking? He never cared in the first place!'

"So you kept this, huh?" I smiled. "I never pegged you for being one to keep his ex-girlfriends gifts."

"Whatever, it was nice so I kept it," Pietro snapped. "Don't read so much into it."

"Okay, no need to get snippy," I said as I approached his dresser. I opened the top drawer and pulled out a pair of light blue leopard print boxer-briefs. "Ooh, what do we have here? These are nice."

"Hey! Give-those-back!" Pietro yelped as he sped toward me. He grabbed for his boxers but I kept a firm grip on them. He pulled and I tugged until we eventually fell to the floor in a tussle.

'Talk about deja-vu,' I thought.

"Are you ready to give up?" Pietro asked as he pinned me down.

"Since when do I ever back down from a challenge dished out by _the_ Pietro Maximoff?" I asked before I pushed him off of me and pinned him down. "You must've forgotten that I'm just as stubborn as you."

"I haven't forgotten anything," Pietro said. "Like how ticklish your ribcage is."

"You wouldn't," I said.

"Oh, but I would," Pietro said as he broke his hand free and began a full scale tickle attack on me.

"Stop it!" I laughed uncontrollably. "I swear I'm gonna get you for this!"

"Keep talking tough, Mina," Pietro said. "You're a softie when it comes down to me."

"You're right," I said as he stopped tickling me. "I am. But I guess I just can't help it."

Pietro looked down at me before leaning down toward my lips. Not being able to stop myself I leaned toward him as well before the door flew open.

"Guys, the food's here!" Tabitha said before she looked at us on the floor. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'll give you two lovebirds some privacy."

"We're not lovebirds," I said getting out from under Pietro and tossing him his boxers. "Far from it. We should be practicing anyway. Right, Pietro?"

"R-right," Pietro said getting off the floor.

"Here," I gave Tabitha the money for the food and she snickered before leaving the room.

"So practicing," Pietro reminded.

"Right," I said as I started playing the song from Pietro's stereo.

A couple of hours later

"And that's it," I said. I can't believe we're actually done and with a week and a half to spare!"

"Yeah, it took a year but we finally finished," Pietro joked.

"Oh hush, it didn't take that long," I playfully said. "Not everyone moves in super speed."

"Only the handsome ones," Pietro said.

"Do you really want to start this again?" I chuckled. "It's like my first day at Bayville all over again."

"Today's been full of a lot of deja-vu hasn't it?" Pietro asked.

"It sure has," I said. "A little too much."

"Then you're gonna hate what I'm about to say," Pietro sighed.

"If you're gonna say what I think you're going to just stop," I said.

"Though this hardly ever happens, I think I may have made a slight mistake when we broke up," Pietro said as he reached for my hand. His tone wasn't genuine but that of uncertainty.

"Don't," I said as I pulled away from him. "What's done is done. Just please don't bring up the fact that we're no longer together because it makes it harder for me to be around you."

"Don't you think it's hard for me too?" Pietro questioned. "You don't think that I miss you, do you?"

"Well, my sister and Rogue told me what you said. _Everything_ you said," I hissed. "So you saying you miss me would be hard to believe at this point."

"I was angry at the time," Pietro exclaimed.

"That doesn't make it any less true," I said turning my back to him. "You basically called me another piece of ass for you to have sex with!"

"I know," Pietro said.

"LaToya told me you said it with the straightest face possible," I whispered as I tried my hardest to withhold tears. "No signs of a joke or remorse. You actually _meant_ it. I'm just the naive girl who would have had the 'honor' of being the first black girl you sleep with."

'I can't believe I fooled myself into thinking you thought I was special,' I thought.

"Look, I know what I said was more than a little demeaning-," Pietro began.

"A little demeaning? " I shouted. "I'm utterly humiliated! All this time I was walking around with a sense of pride of having someone as 'sweet and caring' as you for a boyfriend but now I see how dumb I was."

"But I'm trying to apologize," Pietro irritatedly said. "For what I said and what happened."

"You can never take back what you said about me," I dismissed.

"I didn't mean it," Pietro said.

I turned back toward him and stared into his eyes. "Look at me and tell me you didn't mean it." Pietro stared back until he hesitantly looked away. "That's what I thought."

"Fine! So I did want to sleep with you," Pietro said. "But why don't you just accept my apology so we can move on?"

"I don't I need an apology," I spat. "What I need is just some time because a part of me is still furious with you." I softened my hardened expression, sighed and continued"But I'd be lying if I said that another part of me didn't want to give into my heart right now and give you another chance."

"Then why don't you?" Pietro asked.

"Because I'm not sure which part of me is right yet," I said. "I don't want to regret _if_ I take you back or not."

"Why can't you just make up your mind and pick one already?" Pietro snapped losing what little patience he was holding on to. "I don't want to wait until next year for you to decide whether you want to be with me or not. "

"You just don't get it, do you?" I asked incredulously. "I just said I need time to sort myself out and you're _rushing_ me?"

"It's not my fault you take such a long time to pick one or the other," Pietro said before crossing his arms. "I hate waiting for anything in life, especially for a girl to decide if she wants me or not. I'm ready to get back together with you right now but if you don't that's fine. There _are_ other girls in Bayville besides you. Since we broke up I've been on _**37**_ dates, all with different girls. I can move on with or without you, so stop putting me off to the side and just make a damn decision already!"

I looked at Pietro with a look of shock, disgust, rage but most of all hurt. "You know what?" I choked out. "This whole thing was a mistake. I just can't do it anymore."

I walked out of Pietro's room and rushed to gather my things.

"You can't do what anymore?" Pietro asked as he followed me downstairs. By now the rest of the Brotherhood joined us in the living room and watched the exchange between Pietro and I.

"Anything!" I yelled finally giving into my tears. "I haven't slept one night without dreaming of you, you randomly pop into my head without a warning and wherever I go I smell your cologne. I can't do anything without being reminded of you and it's killing me!"

"I never asked you to do any of those things so you can't blame me!" Pietro yelled.

"Nobody is telling me to do these things!" I yelled back. "I can't help it that I lo-"

I instantly stopped my sentence and froze at what I was about to say. If I hadn't caught myself when I did I would have uttered the "L" word that I honestly believe tries to elude me every time I come near it. I exhaled heavily and said "I'm sorry, guys. I just can't do this. I quit. You can thank Pietro for that."

"But what about the festival?' Lance asked.

"You guys will do just fine without me," I said before I sneered at Pietro and through tears cried "I don't know what I ever saw in you." I stormed out of the house with tears streaming down my face at a steady rate.

"Way to go Pietro!" Lance yelled as I disappeared out of the door. Lance looked at Pietro and asked "Are you even listening?"

Pietro wasn't listening because he stood frozen in place, staring at the door, and lost in his thoughts. 'Did she almost say what I think she was gonna say. Shit! I messed up. I messed up big time.'

"Pietro!" Lance yelled once more before Pietro snapped out of his daze and said "We-may-have-lost-Semina-as-a-singer-but-I-have-an-idea-to-win-this-thing-_and_-win-her-back."

They all looked at Pietro in confusion before Pietro snapped "Stop-standing-around-and-let's-get-moving!"

Pietro told them the details of his plan and the Brotherhood immediately got to work on bringing it all together.

* * *

The rest of the X-Men and I stood in the ticket line waiting to buy a ticket into the music festival. Kitty, LaToya, Jean and Talisa were backstage waiting to perform so it was jut me, Rogue, Kurt, Anthony, Scott and Evan. LaToya and I had to beg professor to let Kurt come with us but we finally got him to agree to it. It was a good thing too. Almost every student in school was there and Kurt would've hated to miss this festival. With so many students attending there wasn't nearly enough room to fit them all in the auditorium so Principal Kelly decided to build a make-shift stage and host it on the football field.

"Why are you buying a ticket?" Rogue asked. "I thought you were in the show."

"I was but I got into a fight with one of the guys and I quit," I replied. "It's no big deal. It was getting a little too complicated."

"Oh, let me guess, one of the guys tried to make a move on you," Rogue said.

"More or less," I shrugged. "But it's in the past now, so I intend on leaving it there."

We bought our tickets and grimaced at the spots we that were left for us.

"Man, way to go Kurt," Anthony groaned. "You just had to stop for that double bacon cheeseburger!"

"Sorry, I vas hungry," Kurt said innocently.

"Chill, Tony," I said. "If Kurt was hungry, he was hungry. You're just mad 'cause you won't be able to see Talisa up close when she performs."

"Can it, short stuff,"Anthony growled.

"We could always just move to the middle," Scott suggested.

"But Rogue hates crowds," I said. "Why don't y'all move up and we'll stay back here."

"Good idea," Evan said. "You coming Kurt?"

"No, I'll stay back here vith Rogue and Mina," Kurt replied.

"Suit yourself," Evan shrugged.

"So vat do you think LaToya is going to do?" Kurt asked.

"Well, knowing that girl, she's gonna dance," I replied.

"Shh, guys. It's starting," Rogue said as Principal Kelly walked out on stage.

"Welcome to Bayville's first annual music festival!" Principal Kelly said as we all cheered loudly. "Tonight we're going to have some of your classmates perform their own personal tributes to the performing arts. First up, let's welcome to the stage, LaToya Wilson!"

The DJ cued up my sister's music and my jaw dropped as Ciara's Ride began to play.

"I am so sorry, Kurt," I quickly said as I turned toward him.

"For vhat?" Kurt inquired.

"For what sister is about to do," I replied as I buried my face in one hand.

LaToya walked out on stage in a black cropped half shirt, long black tights, a red fitted cap, a pair of knee pads and a pair of high top Jordan's. As soon as the hook ended and the first verse of the song began, LaToya sprang into action recreating the dance from Ciara's video move for move. The guys in the crowd rowdily cheered her on until the music abruptly stopped and the curtain closed in front of her.

Principal Kelly immediately walked out on stage and said "I'm sorry to say that Ms. Wilson has been disqualified for inappropriate conduct. Moving on to the next act, we have Luis Carter playing his violin."

The crowd angrily booed and it took Principal Kelly a couple of minutes to calm everyone down but he eventually got everyone settled down. I felt a tap on my shoulder and veered around to come face to face with LaToya who was trying to hold back a ton of laughter.

"Girl, what is wrong with you?" I asked as I hit her in the arm. "Of all dance routines to do, you do that one!"

"What? The boys seemed to like it," LaToya said. "Isn't that right Kurt? You liked it, didn't you?"

Kurt blushed stop sign red and sputtered "Vell i-it vas, um, very-"

"LaToya haven't we talked about traumatizing Kurt already?" I reminded. "You don't have to answer the question, Kurt."

Kurt exhaled and said "Danke, Mina."

"Don't mention it," I replied. (LaToya, stop trying so hard. He'll ask you out once he's off punishment.)

(How do you know?) LaToya asked.

(Because he _likes_ you, Toya! He's just waiting for his chance. Just please stop with the overzealous vies for his attention. I think we _all_ get the point by now.)

(Okay, okay. I'll tone it down a bit,) LaToya said.

(That's all I'm asking for,) I told her. 'Someone at the mansion deserves to have a normal relationship.'

"Hey, Mina," Rogue said getting my attention. "Looks who's next."

I looked at the stage and scoffed as I saw Misty, Sarah, and Tiffany take the stage.

"Wow, the three biggest hoes of the school on one stage," I remarked.

"This ought to be interesting," LaToya said.

Misty grabbed the mic and said "I'm dedicating this performance to the one and only Pietro Maximoff! I know you're in the crowd so come on up."

"You can't be serious," I muttered as I rolled my eyes in disgust.

Katy Perry's "Peacock" began to play and Misty began singing to Pietro. Somewhere during the performance, I don't know when it was when Misty sat in Pietro's lap or when she ran her hands over his chest, I became angrier and more jealous than I have in my life. LaToya and Rogue had to grab my arms to restrain me from running on stage. My anger caused my telekinesis to loosen the drama mask sign above the stage and send it falling toward the stage; in the exact spot Misty was in. Before the sign hit her, it was pushed backwards by who I assumed was Jean. The students clamored for a while before Principal Kelly moved on to the next act which happened to be Kitty, Jean and Talisa. Kitty took the stage in a beautiful and flowing beige gown while Jean and Talisa had matching gold leotards. The music started and Kitty began singing while Jean and Talisa danced to Florence + The Machine's "Dog Days are Over."

Happiness hit her like a train on a track  
Coming towards her stuck still no turning back  
She hid around corners and she hid under beds  
She killed it with kisses and from it she fled  
With every bubble she sank with her drink  
And washed it away down the kitchen sink 

The dog days are over  
The dog days are done  
The horses are coming  
So you better run 

Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father  
Run for your children, for your sisters and brothers  
Leave all your love and your longing behind  
You can't carry it with you if you want to survive 

The dog days are over  
The dog days are done  
Can you hear the horses?  
'Cause here they come 

And I never wanted anything from you  
Except everything you had and what was left after that too, oh  
Happiness hit her like a bullet in the back  
Struck from a great height by someone who should know better than that 

The dog days are over  
The dog days are done  
Can you hear the horses?  
'Cause here they come 

Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father  
Run for your children, for your sisters and brothers  
Leave all your love and your longing behind  
You can't carry it with you if you want to survive 

The dog days are over  
The dog days are done  
Can you hear the horses?  
'Cause here they come 

The dog days are over  
The dog days are done  
The horses are coming  
So you better run

By the end of Kitty's performance, my mood was much better and I was clapping and cheering Kitty on. Her singing was just absolutely beautiful and the choreography Jean and Talisa thought of matched the song perfectly. I really hope they win first prize.

"And for the last performance of the night, let's welcome the Brotherhood," Principal Kelly said as Pietro strutted on stage with an electric-acoustic guitar in hand. He went up to the mic stand and said "I'd like to dedicate this song to a very special girl whose heart I broke. I am so sorry about what I've done and I want to make things right with you again because I care about you more than you think."

The girls in the crowd all said "Aww" but fell silent when Pietro started strumming his guitar. I was looking at the ground away from Pietro when he walked on stage but my head snapped up when I realized the song he was starting to strum was "Useless" by Anarbor. This song was playing softly in the background of my car when I drove Pietro home after our first date at the carnival. I kissed him on the cheek and that was the first time my lips ever touched his skin. A comforting warmth spread through my body that day and just like now.

"H-he remembered this song?" I whispered.

When Pietro started singing the girls in the crowd went crazy.

I woke up this morning, caught sleepin' in  
And noticed the sun was creeping in.  
I picture some people I've never seen  
One family's love can spark my dreams. 

The coldest year we've had-  
Oh-so far from Mom and Dad.  
Colored pills and alcohol-  
Will make it better after all. 

And I'll... I'll get through this,  
No one can stop me now.  
Time is useless when your head's caught up in the clouds. 

Time flies by when you love someone,  
And the hands stand still when it's overdone.  
But getting caught up inside of my past,  
Friends come and go, but only family will last. 

The coldest year we've had-  
Oh-so far from Mom and Dad.  
Colored leaves fall from the trees;  
I just try to make you proud of me. 

And I'll... I'll get through this,  
No one can stop me now.  
Time is useless when your head's caught up in the clouds. 

The curtain behind Pietro went up to reveal the rest of the Brotherhood who switched Pietro's soft guitar ballad into a loud rock one and a sign that said "Semina, please forgive me." Everyone who knew who I was turned around and looked at me in shock and curiosity, especially Kurt.

(Oh...)  
I'll get through this...  
I'll get through this,  
No one can stop me.  
Time is useless when your head's caught up in the clouds.  
Oh, and I'll get through this,  
No one can stop me now.  
Time is useless, yeah, when your head's caught up in the clouds.

"Semina, I'm begging you. Please, _please_ forgive me," Pietro groveled. "I don't want to lose you."

Although my head screamed 'no', my heart screamed 'yes' louder. I don't know if it was my desire to be in Pietro's arm or the small shove LaToya gave me but my feet caught up with the rest of my body and I began to walk forward. Walking turned into jogging and jogging turned into running as tears streamed down my face as I roughly pushed my way toward the front of the crowd to make my way on stage. I pushed past the security guards at the base of the stage and ran into Pietro's arms and he set his guitar down to hug me.

"Why...did you...do...all of...this?" I asked through sobs as I hugged him tighter.

"Because I realized I don't want to lose the one girl I _need_ in my life," Pietro replied.

I blinked away my tears as I looked him in the eyes before grabbing the back of his head and pushing his lips down to mine. If you thought the crowd was berserk before, the sight of us kissing sent them into overdrive.

"I missed you so much," I said as we pulled apart and hugged again.

"I missed you too," Pietro said. "Does this mean you'll take me back?"

"Well your gonna have to bust your ass to win my trust back," I seriously said. "But you're lucky you have a nice ass."

Pietro kissed me again and we pulled apart when I heard a throat clear behind us. We both blushed as we came face to face with Principal Kelly.

"Well I'm always happy to see love in the air but in the middle of a competition really isn't the best time," he said.

"Oh, I apologize Principal Kelly," I quickly said. "It won't happen again."

"Okay, I'll see that it doesn't," Principal Kelly said. He went to the mic and said "Well, how about that for a final performance?"

The crowd wildly cheered before Principal Kelly said "It's now time to announce the winners using the applause-o-meter!"

When Principal Kelly came to Misty almost nobody clapped which caused me and Pietro to choke back snickers. The crowd wildly cheered when he said Kitty but when it came to the Brotherhood, the abundant amount of thunderous applause almost broke the applause-o-meter.

"Congratulations to the Brotherhood who are our first prize winners!" Principal Kelly said. Though I couldn't help but notice the forced enthusiasm in his voice. Guess he wasn't planning on them winning after all. "Second prize of a thousand dollars goes to Kitty Pryde and third prize of five hundred dollars goes to Luis Carter."

Misty huffed before angrily storming off stage with the other hoes in tow.

"And that concludes Bayville's first annual Music Festival!" Principal Kelly said until the crowd began to chant "Encore! Encore! Encore!"

I looked at Pietro and the guys and asked "Think y'all are up to it?"

"Count me in, yo," Toad exclaimed. "The crowd loves me!"

"I'm in too," Fred said.

"Sure, why not?" Lance agreed as he slung his guitar back over his head.

"Just try to keep up, Pietro," I smirked.

"Ditto," Pietro smirked back.

I asked for an extra mic and when I got it, Lance and the guys started playing and Pietro and I got to business. We mentally prepared ourselves as the rest of the Brotherhood played the intro to "Dream On".

(P)

Every time when I look in the mirror  
All these lines on my face getting clearer  
The past is gone  
it went by, like dusk to dawn  
Isn't that the way  
Everybody's got the dues in life to pay

(M)

I know nobody knows  
where it comes and where it goes  
I know it's everybody sin  
You got to lose to know how to win

Half my life's in books written pages  
lived and learned from fools and from sages  
You know it's true,  
All these things come back to you

(P)

Sing with me, sing for the years

(M)  
Sing for the laughter, sing for the tears

(P)  
Sing with me, just for today

(M)

Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away

(P&M)

Yeah, sing with me, sing for the year

(M)  
sing for the laughter, sing for the tear

(P)  
sing with me, just for today

(P&M)  
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away

(P)

Dream On  
Dream On  
Dream On  
Dream until your dreams come true

(M)  
Dream On  
Dream On  
Dream On  
Dream until your dreams come true

(M)  
Dream On

(P)  
Dream On

(M)  
Dream On

(P)  
Dream On

Pietro and I dropped to our knees with our backs pressed to each others and put all of our emotions into the rock star yell at the end of this bar.

(P&M)  
Dream On  
Dream On  
Dream On

AHHHHHHH

(P&M)

Sing with me, sing for the year

(P)  
sing for the laughter

(M)

sing for the tear

sing with me, just for today

(P&M)  
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away

(M)  
Sing with me

(P)

sing for the year

(P&M)  
sing for the laughter, sing for the tear  
Sing with me, just for today  
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away.

As the last guitar string was plucked and the drum was beat one last time, the crowd erupted in applause again. The Brotherhood and I walked off the stage and proceeded down to the rest of the crowd who congratulated Pietro and I on being a couple and the guys on playing so well. As the crowd dispersed, a clear path was left between the angry faces of the X-Men and me. I instinctively reached for Pietro's hand and squeezed if for comfort. He squeezed back which made me rest my head on his shoulder to calm my nerves.

"I really didn't think this is how they would find out," I whispered.

"Well, they have. Ready to face what these X-Geeks have to dish out?" Pietro asked.

"I'm ready if you are," I replied. "Kiss for good luck?"

"Of course," Pietro smirked as he gave me a quick peck on the lips the moment the X-Men arrived.

"Are you telling me _this_ is the guy you've been dating?" Scott said in disgust.

"Yeah, so what?" I asked.

"He's with the Brotherhood!" Jean exclaimed.

"So is Lance and you guys didn't give Kitty as hard a time as you're giving me now," I retorted.

"That's because Lance isn't the son of Magneto," Anthony said. "Do I have to remind you that he's the son of the man who killed our brother?"

"Hey, you can't bring my father into this," Pietro said. "He has nothing to do with it!"

"_Magneto_ killed Andre, not Pietro," I corrected. "Pietro is nothing like that bastard."

"And that makes it okay?" Evan asked.

"I never said that made it okay," I snapped. "The point is all of you are overreacting about this."

"Not all of us. Some of us are underreacting," Evan said as he jutted his head toward Kitty, Rogue and LaToya.

"We already knew," LaToya said. "Mina didn't tell the rest of you because she knew you would act like you're acting right now."

"Oh and how are we supposed to act?" Anthony sarcastically asked. "Were we just supposed to accept it?"

"You were _supposed_ to be happy for me," I jumped in. "Can't you see that Pietro makes me happy?"

"Yeah because you were _so_ happy when you came home drenched in rain and crying your eyes out," Scott said. "That was really convincing."

"I just don't see how you can trust him," Evan said. "He lies more than he breathes."

"Oh shut up, Daniels," Pietro snapped.

"You have no right to talk, Maximoff," Evan said.

"How about both of you shut up!" LaToya yelled.

"Mina, you can't seriously trust this guy can you?" Jean asked. "After all he's done to you? After all he's _said_ about you?"

"If I trust my boyfriend or not is my business and _mine_ alone," I said. "I don't need your opinions of him because none of you know him like I do. In fact you don't know anything about him! You just see that he's on the opposite team and assume he's untrustworthy. What amazes me is that us X-Men are supposed to be for mutant equality and stuff and you guys are sitting here and judging Pietro before you even get a chance to know him. If you guys don't like him dating me, too bad. Because I honestly don't give a shit what you think about him."

"Actually, _I_ know plenty about him," Evan said. "We grew up together. He used to be my best friend but ship has sailed. But believe me when I say this guy is gonna end up hurting you worse than last time. I've seen it a million times before."

"Those other girls weren't nearly as special to me as Mina is," Pietro said. "People can change, Daniels."

"Yeah, Maximoff. _People_ can change," Evan said. "Devils can't."

"Don't talk about him that way!" I yelled at Evan.

"Why are you defending him?" Rogue asked.

"Yeah, don't you remember what he thinks of you?" Kitty asked.

"I remember," I quietly said as I looked to the ground.

"So all it takes is a sappy love song to make you take him back?" Rogue asked.

"I sensed he was being sincere," I countered. "If y'all want proof, then Rogue won't mind briefly touching Pietro to validate my point."

"Are you trying to kill me?" Pietro exclaimed.

"No, just focus on your feelings for me and she'll only absorb that," I said. "Please, Rogue?"

"I've done it before so it might work again," Rogue said taking off her glove.

Pietro hesitantly reached out a hand and Rogue lightly tapped it. Pietro got weak from the contact so I helped keep him steady.

Rogue who had her eyes closed snapped them open after sifting through her newly acquired information. "Oh my god," she said in shock.

"So did he mean it?" Kitty asked.

"P-pietro _actually_ meant what he said," Rogue confirmed. "He does care about her."

"Well, he has a pretty shitty way of showing it," LaToya huffed.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose and said "Look, either you accept us dating or you don't. Do you?"

"No way," Scott said.

"I agree with Scott," Jean piped in.

"Never in a million years," Evan growled.

"I'm not _entirely_ convinced," Kitty said.

"I'm not sure about this either," Rogue said. "Sure he meant it now but he just might do something like this again."

"Come on, guys," I begged as I looked at my brother and sister with pleading eyes. "Sure Pietro's an arrogant ass-"

"Hey! I thought you were on my side!" Pietro exclaimed.

"Shh!" I said. "But you see how much I like him. Can't you just put Magneto out of this and see how Pietro affects me? You of all people know that happiness is the one thing that I deserve. Especially after all I've been through."

"As much as I hate what Pietro did to you," Anthony began angrily before sighing heavily. "I can't argue with the fact that you _are_ happy being with him."

"So you're okay with us dating?" I asked excitedly.

"I'm okay with it," Anthony said as he walked up to Pietro, towered over him and said "But if you ever, _**ever**_ hurt my little sister again, I will crush your head between my hands and snap your scrawny little twig body in half, understand?"

"And that goes the same for me," LaToya menacingly said. "If I find out you hurt her again, I will make you deaf for the rest of your life after I kick your albino ass through several walls. Got that?"

"U-understand," Pietro fearfully choked out. "C-crystal clear."

Anthony growled at him before looking at me and ruffling my hair. "Keep him in check, short stuff."

"You know I will," I smiled. "What about you Kurt? You've been awfully quiet."

"Vell, you are happier than I've seen you in veeks," Kurt said. "But I don't trust him. I just don't vant you getting hurt again."

I walked up to Kurt and gave him a hug. "Thank you. And it's okay that you don't like it. It'll take time and some getting used to."

"Vhy didn't you tell me earlier?" Kurt asked. "You can tell me anything."

"I thought you would react like them," I truthfully said. "But their reaction beg the question: do y'all plan on telling anyone at the institute about us?"

"Of course we're gonna tell the professor!" Evan exclaimed. "He'll take our side and put an end to this."

"Okay, then I won't have any remorse about doing this," I said.

Before Scott, Jean and Evan could react, I was already inside of their heads rearranging their memories so they'll forget what happened in the last fifteen minutes.

"I am so sorry, Kurt but I just can't have you spilling the beans about my little secret," I sadly said.

"I understand," Kurt nodded. "Do vhat you must."

I put my hand on top of Kurt's head but sighed as I said "I just can't do this to my best friend. If I did, I'd feel too guilty. You'll just have to keep quiet about it."

"I don't know if I can," Kurt said.

"How about in exchange I make you a batch of cookies everyday after you finish waxing the X-Jet?" I offered.

Kurt's face lit up and he shook my hand and said "Deal."

"Pietro, you guys better leave before they come to their senses," I said giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll call you later, okay."

"But you erased your number off my phone," Pietro said.

"I did but who said you didn't have it memorized," I said with a wink.

Pietro smirked before giving me one last kiss and walking away with the rest of the Brotherhood.

"Did you really just erase their memories?" Anthony whispered to me.

"Damn right," I whispered back. "They deserved it anyway. But let that be a lesson to you. I aint afraid to wipe yours too."

"Like you could," Anthony said before he picked me up and draped me over his shoulders.

"Put me down!" I yelled and laughed as I hit his back playfully. "Put me down! Kurt! LaToya! Rogue! Kitty! Save me! Ah!"

Scott, Jean and Evan all came to and looked at Anthony carrying Mina on his shoulders and simultaneously asked "Did we miss something?"

A/N: Looks like Mina and Pietro are back together (for now) and their secret is safe for the time being. IDK why but I kinda like normal, jackassy Pietro but this is a romance story and will be written a such. How'd you like this chappie? Hit the little review button and tell me! In the next chappie we follow Lancitty and Mietro on a double date. Read the next chappie to find out what happens!

Oh and I can just picture the reviews right now: 'OMG, Mina is such a bitch! 'I hate this stupid Mary-Sue!' 'This story sucks!' Well there's a reason I made her the way I did. I _purposely_ made her a bitchy Mary Sue because it's an important personality trait for the later chapters. I just ask that you guys stop coming at me with pitchforks and torches for it.


	20. The Art Of Double Dating

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution or any song used in this story, so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

"Example"= French

The Art of Double Dating

I walked out of the kitchen stuffing my face full of a hot slice of four cheese pizza when I heard Kitty pleading with the professor in the living room.

"But Professor! Tell Mr. Logan he's being unfair!" Kitty whined.

"I'm sorry Kitty," the Professor said. "But you can't go on a date with Lance alone all the way in downtown Bayville."

"But it's not even that far!" Kitty exclaimed.

"Sorry, half-pint," Logan said. "But you just can't go."

"What if I go with her?" I offered. "Like a chaperone."

"We wouldn't want to burden you," the professor said.

"Oh, it's no burden," I dismissed. I'll just call my boyfriend and ask if he'll want to double date. We didn't have any plans this Saturday anyway."

"Downtown Bayville is pretty rough," Logan said. "It could be a little much to handle for you."

"Calm down, Logan," I said. "You've seen what I can do in the Danger Room. I'm a great combatant and besides it's not like I'll have to fight off Sabertooth. Been there, done that."

"I just don't-" Logan began before I said "Trust me, I can handle it. I'll keep Kitty safe _and_ keep Lance from trying anything. I promise."

"I don't see why not," the professor said. "Logan?"

"Yeah, fine whatever," Logan grumbled. "Be home by ten and we won't have any problems. Ya got that, Half-pint? Sprinkler?"

"Yes, sir," we said at the same time before we walked out and headed upstairs.

"Thank you so much," Kitty said as she hugged me.

"Don't mention it," I shrugged. "I had nothing to do Saturday other than some extra practice in the Danger Room."

"Are you sure Pietro will be okay with it?" Kitty whispered.

"He'll be thrilled!" I exclaimed.

A couple of minutes later on the phone

"No way! Nu-huh," Pietro said over the receiver.

"Why not?" I whined.

"Because I don't want to spend my Saturday babysitting Pryde," he replied.

"It's too late anyway, I already agreed to do it," I said.

"Then I just won't show up," Pietro defiantly said.

"Let me put it this way," I said. "This is a double date. Emphasis on the word _date_. We'll still be doing the same things we normally do but with Kitty and Lance."

"Do we still get to make out?" Pietro asked in a stubborn tone.

"Yes, we still get to make out," I replied as I rolled my eyes.

"Fine! I'll do it," Pietro said. "But this better be an awesome make out session."

"You have my word," I chuckled. "It'll be the best one yet."

"That's what I like to hear," Pietro replied. "Oh and wear that peach lip gloss I like so much. I could suck on your lips for months when you wear that."

"Okay, okay," I smiled. "I'll see you Saturday."

* * *

I spent Saturday morning rifling through my closet for the perfect double date outfit. Kitty told me that Lance made reservations at the fancy French restaurant, "Une Touche de Paris", then we we going ice skating at Mr. Frosty's Ice skating rink then to a romantic movie and we were going to finish the night with a boat ride on the lake under the stars. The night _sounds_ perfect let's just hope that it will be. For dinner I picked a strapless purple cocktail dress with a large bow on my left side and a pair of black heels. For the rest of the night, a white T-Shirt that said "MY BF IS BETTER THAN YOURS" with a black vest, black skinny jeans and white and black sandals. I went to the resident hair expert and asked her to style my hair for the night.

"You know what? You're gonna have to start paying for my services from now on," Latoya joked.

"Wait on it, Toya," I laughed.

"So double dating with Kitty and Lance? What do y'all have planned for tonight?" LaToya asked.

"Dinner at ' Une Touche de Paris ', ice skating, a movie and a romantic boat ride," I wistfully smiled.

"Sounds perfect," LaToya said. "Now only if Kurt's punishment would hurry up and end."

"Once it's over you two will be happier than Pietro in a room full of Pixie Sticks," I laughed.

"He must really love sugar," LaToya remarked.

"You have no idea," I said. "Lance told me when I got him that pack of Pixie Sticks for V-Day he ate them all in one day and ran through the house two hundred times in thirty seconds!"

"Are you serious?" LaToya guffawed.

"Yup, now just imagine if I had given him a bigger pack," I chuckled.

"Girl stop making me laugh," LaToya said. "You're gonna make me burn your hair with this curling iron."

"Are you almost done?" I asked.

"Don't be impatient," LaToya said. "Art takes time. But I guess if I were dating Quicksilver everything would move slowly for me too."

"Yeah, I think he's rubbing off on me," I smiled.

"Since y'all got back together, you two have been practically attached at the hip," LaToya said. "Or should I say attached at the _lip_."

"Shut up," I blushed. "What can I say, he's a great kisser."

"There done," LaToya said as she passed my a mirror. She curled my normally straight hair so that it was a cascading waterfall of dark brownish-black curls. My usual bang to the left of my face was curled as well.

"Beautiful as always," I thanked. "He's not gonna be able to keep his hands off of me tonight."

"Just tell him not to mess up your hair," LaToya said.

"I will," I said as I went back to my room. "Thanks!"

"Anytime," LaToya called.

I stepped into the hallway only to be faced with Beast. I never would've thought that my favorite chemistry teacher was actually a mutant but even in his true beastly form he's still as nice and kind as the day I first walked into his class. Now that he's moved into the mansion with us, we finally have someone working in the Med Bay with a PhD in medicine and not to mention a new instructor.

"Your hair looks pretty, Semina," Beast remarked. "Let me guess, you have a date tonight."

"Is it that obvious?" I asked.

"You don't usually get your hair done up so nicely otherwise," Beast said.

"Well I'm double dating with Kitty and we're going to a fancy french restaurant," I said. "Looking my best is important tonight."

"I see. Have fun then," Beast said.

"Oh, I hope so. Thanks for the compliment, Mr. M," I replied.

"Semina, I'm not your chemistry teacher anymore. Just call me Hank," Beast said.

"Okay. Thanks, _Hank_," I said before I walked into my room.

Later that night

After I finished getting dressed, I sauntered over to Kitty and Rogue's room. I knocked on the door and asked "Hey Kitty, are you ready yet? The guys will be here any minute!"

"Just a sec!" came Kitty's reply. "I'm almost done!"

A couple of minutes later, Kitty emerged from the room wearing a gorgeous pink dress with spaghetti straps and feathers that decorated the bottom hem of the dress. The silver shoes she had on complimented the silver jewelry she had on and the soft shades of makeup that lay on her face were lightly applied but beautifully done. Kitty's usual ponytail had been let down and her hair hung freely by her shoulders.

"You look so beautiful, Kitty," I marveled.

"Thanks, so do you," Kitty said.

"Let's get downstairs and wait for them to show up," I suggested.

On the way down the stairs, we passed Jean and Scott who looked at us in amazement.

"Where are you two going dressed like that?" Scott asked in his infamous big brother voice.

"Une Touche de Paris," I replied.

"That fancy french restaurant in downtown Bayville?" Jean asked as we nodded our head in reply. "Duncan took me there on our first date. It's a really romantic place."

I hid back a smirk at the jealousy I was feeling from Scoot at the mention of Duncan. There's gonna be a second ice age before Scott tells Jean how he really feels about her.

"Well, have fun," Scott said.

"Thanks, we will," Kitty said. We heard a knock at the door and Kitty rushed to answer it. Standing at the door was Lance in a navy blue suit holding flowers for Kitty.

"Oh hey, Kitty. Wow you look terrific," Lance said in a daze. He realized he was staring and shoved the flowers at her and said "Here these are for you."

"Thank you they're beautiful," Kitty said sniffing the lilies. "I'll go put these in water and then we can go."

"Hey Lance," I greeted. "How'd you get past the security system?"

"Some gruff sounding guy let me in," Lance answered. "He threatened to cut my hands off if I tried anything 'inappropriate' with Kitty."

"Oh that's just Logan," I said. "He's a bout as cuddly as well, a wolverine. Is, um, he in the jeep?"

"Yup, he's waiting for you," Lance said. "It's outside of the gate."

I carefully brushed past Lance and walked to his Jeep where I saw Pietro causally leaning on the side of it. I put my thumb on the scanner and let myself out of the gate to where he was standing.

"There you are, Mina. Looking more beautiful than usual," Pietro said.

"Thank you. I try," I replied. "And look how well you clean up. I'm impressed."

Pietro wore a black blazer over a white dressy shirt with the first two buttons undone and a pair dressy black pants and shoes.

"Well, I always try my hardest to impress my lady," Pietro smirked. "Who, did I mention, looks more stunning every time I see you."

"You already told me I'm beautiful," I said. "But go on because flattery will get you everywhere."

"Will it get you to my lips?" Pietro asked.

"You tell me," I said giving him a lingering kiss.

"Mmm, peach," Pietro said. "You remembered."

"Of course I did," I said.

"Yeah, I hate to break up this tender moment," Lance said from behind us. "But we have reservations for 7:00 P.M. and it's already 6:15 P.M."

"Oh, sorry," I blushed. Pietro opened the jeep door and helped me in then got in after me. After buckling my seat belt, I snuggled up to Pietro who put his arm around me. Lance started the jeep and we drove to the freeway where we could head into downtown. Lance and Kitty idly chatted in the front seat while Pietro and I talked about how the night should go.

"So do you know how to ice skate?" Pietro asked.

"Of course," I scoffed. "I'm from Richmond. All there was to do was skate."

"Well, I hope you can keep up with me," Pietro said.

"I don't have to," I replied. "Because I'm always one step ahead of you."

"Because you're a telepath?" Pietro smirked.

"No, because I always know what's on your mind without having to try to read it," I said.

"Well, what am I thinking right now?" Pietro asked.

"Your thinking about how soft my lips are and how you want to kiss me so badly right now," I sultrily said.

"You forgot how I want to run my fingers through your soft hair," Pietro said.

"Silly me, how could I forget?" I said before I captured his lips with mine.

Ten minutes later

"Guys? Guys! We're here!" Lance said.

"Are they always like this?" Kitty asked.

"Sometimes they don't even come up for air," Lance chuckled.

"I have an idea," Kitty whispered. She loudly said "Well I guess we're gonna miss our reservations. I heard their seafood dishes are the best in Bayville."

"And their dessert have _pounds_ of sugar in them," Lance said.

Pietro and I broke apart looked at Lance and Kitty then back at each other, smiled then raced out of the jeep toward the restaurant. Lance and Kitty looked at each with confused faces before bursting into laughter. We approached the handsome, young and well dressed maitre d' who sneered at Lance and Pietro but gave a warm smile to Kitty and I.

"Welcome to Une Touche de Paris!" the maitre d' said in a phony French accent. "I am you maitre d' Jacque. How may I serve you lovely ladies tonight?"

"We have a reservation under 'Alvers'," Kitty said.

Jacque scanned the list before exclaimed. "Ah! Zhere it is. Right this way." Jacque took our arms and escorted us to our table with Pietro and Lance jealously trailing behind us. We were seated at a booth and I tapped Pietro on the shoulder and pointed to the small vase filled with daises on the table.

"Hey, could you get these flowers off the table?" Pietro said. "My girlfriend is allergic."

"Oh, of course," Jacque said immediately removing the vase. "My apologies. I wouldn't want a lady as lovely as yourself getting an allergic reaction."

Jacque winked at me before walking away and Pietro angrily scoffed.

(Hey Kitty, get a load of Mr. Frenchy over there,) I telepathically said.

(I know right. What a tool,) Kitty replied.

Kitty and I giggled and Pietro and Lance looked at us in confusion before looking at the menu.

"Aw man," Lance groaned. "The menu's in French!"

"Pietro and I could translate for you guys," I offered. "Here switch seats with me, Lance."

"But then I won't be able to sit next to you," Pietro whined.

"Don't worry. We'll switch back in time for dessert and I can feed you some crème b**rûlée**," I said.

"Fine," Pietro huffed.

Now, I was sitting next to Kitty in front of Lance and Lance was sitting next to Pietro who was in front of Kitty. After translating for Kitty and Lance, a different waiter came to the table to take our orders. This time it was a busty blonde waitress with a pink fluffy pen behind her ear.

"My name is Arienne," the waitress said in a light but real French accent. "I'll be your waitress for this evening. Are you ready to order?"

"Yes, I'll have the seafood pasta with white wine sauce," I fluently said. "And she'll have the vegetable risotto."

"Excellent choice," Arienne commented as she quickly jotted the orders down. "And what will the handsome gentlemen be having?"

"We'll both have the rib eye steak with wild mushroom sauce," Pietro said as he folded up our menus and gave them to her.

"Your food will arrive shortly," Arienne said before winking at Lance then Pietro and sauntering away.

(Did you see that?) I telepathically shouted at Kitty.

(Not so loud! See what?) Kitty asked.

(She just winked at them,) I said.

(What? No she didn't. It's probably just your imagination,) Kitty dismissed.

(I know what I saw,) I stubbornly said. (Wait until she comes back and you'll see.)

(Mina, stop being so paranoid,) Kitty said.

"Well, I don't like her," I said at loud.

"Why not?" Lance said. "She seemed pretty nice."

"I don't appreciate her calling my boyfriend 'handsome'," I sneered as I crossed my arms.

"But I am handsome," Pietro said. "Everyone knows that!"

"Yeah, well I don't like it when other girls call you handsome," I quietly said.

"Are you jealous of her?" Pietro chuckled.

"No! Why would I be?" I asked.

"Don't worry, Mina. _Nobody_ is going to steal me away from you," Pietro reassured as my lifted up my hand and kissed it.

I simply smiled in comfort but that smile turned into a scowl when Arienne returned to the table with a basket of fresh bread.

"Freshly made bread for the handsome men," she said as she gave a toothy smile to Lance and Pietro.

(Okay, now I see what you're talking about,) Kitty said.

"Thank you, Arienne. I'm sure our _boyfriends _appreciate it," I said with a forced grin as I put emphasis on the word 'boyfriends'.

Arienne huffed before walking away again.

"I don't like her either," Kitty declared.

"Not you too, Kitty," Lance groaned.

Before Kitty could reply, Jacque appeared at our table with a vase of fresh white, pink and purple orchids.

"Here are some orchids to replace the daisies," Jacque said.

"Wow, they're beautiful," I commented.

"Almost as beautiful as you," Jacque said.

"Okay, enough with the flattery," Pietro irritatedly said. "Beat it, Frenchy."

Jacque smiled at Kitty and me before brusquely leaving the table.

"Now that's someone to hate," Pietro said.

"Definitely," Lance agreed.

Kitty and I looked at each other before laughing. Pietro and Lance eventually joined in on the laughter until the food arrived a couple of minutes later. The food was absolutely delicious and like I promised I switched back to my original seat next to Pietro just in time for dessert. After ordering our dessert, I was whispering something in Pietro's ear when I felt a cold splash on my lap.

"AHH!" I yelped as I jumped up in shock to see my dress covered in ice water. "MY DRESS!"

"Oops, sorry," Arienne said with a devilish gleam in her eye. "It was an accident."

Jacque came running over and immediately said "Oh, madam! I apologize for my clumsy waitress. Your meal is on the house."

"Thank you, Jacque," I said through clenched teeth as I stared daggers at Arienne. "Kitty can you help me clean this up?"

"Of course," Kitty said as we made our way to the bathroom.

"Can you believe that bitch just spilled water all over my dress?" I shouted as soon as we got to the bathroom. "An accident my ass!"

"Yeah, I totally saw her purposely spill it on your dress," Kitty said.

"That girl has been trying my last nerve," I said. "It's bad enough she had to eye Pietro all night."

"And Lance too," Kitty added.

"Hey Kitty can you watch the door?" I asked. "Paper towels won't get the water out."

"Sure," Kitty said quickly understanding what I implied.

I touched the front of my dress and slowly extracted the water from the fabric until my dress was completely dry.

"There. Good as new," I said as I discarded the water in the sink. "Let's just get our dessert and get out of here."

"No arguments here," Kitty said.

When we got back to our table, I saw Arienne flirting with Pietro in French. She discreetly tried to slip him a piece of paper but I snatched it off the table and read it before tearing it up and blowing the shreds in her face.

"Don't even think of trying to flirt with my boyfriend again or I'll rip the silicone straight out of those floatation devices you call breasts," I threatened. "Got that?"

"Oui," Arienne said as she quickly walked away from the table.

"Come on, guys," I said walking toward the exit. "I'm ready to go skating."

Before I could even reach the exit, Jacque got in front of me and said "I'm sorry that your night was less than perfect, madam. Please feel free to come back anytime. I'll be here waiting for you."

Jacque picked up my hand and kissed it in one swift motion. That's when Pietro appeared out of nowhere and knocked Jacque out with one punch.

"I always hated that guy," Pietro said taking my arm and escorting me out of the restaurant.

"That was an interesting dinner," Kitty said.

"Maybe ice skating will make up for it," I said.

* * *

After changing into normal clothing, we drove to Mr. Frosty's Ice Skating rink which was only a couple of minutes away. The chill of the air hit my face as we walked in through the slider doors.

"Cool ice, humid air. This is my kinda place," I sighed. "I haven't been ice skating in years!"

"The ice awaits," Pietro said as he whisked me toward the skate rental counter.

As I tightly laced up my skates, I quickly took to the ice without even waiting for Pietro. The glide of my skate on top of the ice brought back happy childhood memories of my brothers, sister and I. Lost in my memories I failed to notice Pietro creeping up behind me until he grabbed my waist. Startled, my instincts kicked in and I grabbed his arms and shoved one around his throat and another behind his back.

I recognized his white hair and immediately and said "Oh my God, Pietro! I'm sorry! I didn't know it was you."

"Remind me never to do that again," Pietro said as he rubbed his arms and neck.

"Aw poor baby," I said kissing his forehead. "I didn't hurt you too bad, did I?"

"I'll live," Pietro replied.

"Are you mad at me?" I sheepishly asked.

"No," Pietro replied. "But I will be if we aren't kissing in the next five seconds."

A voice over the loud speaker said "Will the interracial couple making out in the middle of the rink either skate or leave the ice. Thank you."

Pietro and I broke apart to see other people snickering at us so we quickly began to slowly skate around the rink.

"Okay, embarrassing," I blushed. "Hope that doesn't happen again but knowing you it probably will."

"What can I say?" Pietro shrugged. "I can't keep my hands off of you."

Before we kissed again, a red headed girl skated up to us and exclaimed "Pietro? Pietro Maximoff?"

Pietro turned around and looked at the girl before saying "Yeah that's me. Have we met before?"

"Ha! Ha! You were always so silly!" the redhead giggled. "It's me, Amber! Remember? We dated during the summer!"

"Oh!" Pietro said with wide, nervous eyes. "H-hey Amber. How have things been?"

"They've been okay," Amber replied. "Is this your new girlfriend? Hi! I'm Amber!"

"Hi, I'm Semina," I said giving a small wave.

"Ooh! What a pretty African name," Amber said. "What part of Africa are you from?"

"I'm not from Africa. I'm from Virginia," I seethed.

"Oh, my mistake!" Amber apologized. "I didn't realize you weren't born there instead-"

"It was nice seeing you, Amber," Pietro cut in.

"Nice seeing you too," Amber cheerfully said. "Bye!"

Amber skated away and I just watched with a wide mouth and shocked expression.

"Did she just-" I said before Pietro silenced me with a kiss.

"Remember what I said on our first date about you being smarter than the other girls I've dated?" Pietro asked. "Now you know I'm telling the truth."

"I can see that," I remarked.

"So how do I compare with other guys you've dated?" Pietro asked.

"That's an easy question," I replied. "You're much sweeter, a million times more sexy, you're understanding of my pyrophobia, you have a lot in common with me and you're by far the _best_ kisser I've dated."

"Is that it?" Pietro asked.

"Well if I listed every little detail, we would be here all night," I smiled. "And I'm pretty sure the ice would've melted by then. Which reminds me, we actually _should_ be skating instead of standing and talking."

Pietro and I skated through the rink hand in hand until we came upon a hilarious site. Kitty trying (and failing) to keep Lance upright on his ice skates. Lance and Kitty looked up and Pietro and I started laughing so hard that we fell on the ice and held our stomachs until tears came out. A mixture of embarrassment and anger at being laughed at caused Lance to subconsciously use his powers. The walls shook and skaters panicked as the ice began to crack.

"Lance! Knock it off!" Pietro yelled.

I put both of my hands on the ice and tried my best to mend the cracks before they expanded but with Lance's tremors ruining every crack I fixed my attempts proved useless. Kitty eventually got Lance to stop and I focused on fixing the cracks before anyone could notice. Coming to a mutual agreement that leaving was the best idea, we returned our skates and left in a hurry.

"Wow, that was so much better than dinner," I laughed once we got outside. "At least there wasn't anyone trying to flirt with you guys."

"Did you think anyone noticed what happened?" Kitty asked.

"A random 'earthquake' in the middle of an ice skating rink? No, I'm sure _no_ one noticed that," Pietro sarcastically said.

"This has been the most anti romantic night ever," I sighed "First that snooty French bitch ruins what could have been a perfect dinner, then this. What's next? Am I gonna get mugged?"

"Hopefully the movies will be better," Lance sighed once he got into the drivers seat.

"What are we going to see?" I asked.

"Kitty wanted to go see 'Beastly' so that's what we're buying tickets for," Lance said.

"What!" Pietro exclaimed. "Of all movies we have to see _that_!"

"Pietro, it doesn't matter what we see," I said. I pulled out my peach lip gloss and telepathically said (We won't be watching the movie anyway.)

"Oh, okay," Pietro smirked. "I'll 'watch' the movie."

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Lance asked.

"The movie just got interesting to me," Pietro replied.

* * *

After arriving at the movie theater, we walked around the theater until we found the right show room. As Kitty and Lance took seats close to the middle, Pietro and I opted on the higher seats at the top. The lights dimmed and the movie started. I rested my head on Pietro's shoulder and munched on popcorn as the first scene started. As the movie went on, I noticed some similarities between the leading male character and Pietro.

"Hey, Pietro. For some reason, the main character reminds me of you," I said.

"What we're nothing alike!" Pietro exclaimed.

"Sort of," I shrugged. "Handsome guy, overly confident and arrogant, can get any girl he wants. I'd be blind to not automatically think of you."

"Shut up," Pietro said as he threw a couple of popcorn pieces at me.

"Hey!" I exclaimed as I picked a few up and threw them at him.

He threw some back and it eventually escalated into a full scale popcorn battle. There was popcorn everywhere! In my hair, in his hair. In his shirt, in my shirt _and_ scattered all over the floor. We were laughing so hard one of the movie ushers had to tell us to leave. We left the theater but not before throwing some popcorn at him first.

(Hey, Kitty, Pietro and I are gonna go walk to the lake. We'll be there when the movie finishes,) I telepathically told her.

(Okay, I'll be sure to tell Lance,) Kitty responded.

"Come on, Pietro," I said as I pulled him in the direction of the lake. "Let's go for the boat ride. Kitty and Lance said they'll meet up with us after the movie."

"So a whole hour alone with you under the stars on a boat in the middle of a lake," Pietro said. "That brings up some ideas."

Pietro and I walked hand in hand until we reached the lake. We rented a boat and Pietro rowed up to the middle of the lake where I immediately snuggled into his arms.

"This whole double date this isn't exactly how I pictured it," I said. "But at least we're finally alone and on such a beautiful night too. I mean look at all the stars in the sky."

"Wow, I've never seen so many out since I got to Bayville," Pietro said. "Tonight must be really special."

"It must be," I agreed as I intertwined my hand with his. "Something about tonight just feels right."

"Yeah, I mean it's the first official date we've been on since we got back together," Pietro said.

"Pietro, can I be honest with you right now?" I asked.

"Of course," Pietro said.

"When we were broke up, I felt like my heart was literally being torn from my chest," I said. "Those few weeks we were apart were the worst weeks of my life. You're probably the first person I've ever felt this strongly about. I'm just asking you to be real with me when I ask if you truly feel the same way or not."

"Well," Pietro hesitated as he put a hand behind his head.

"Well what?" I asked. My heart sank as I realized "You don't feel the same way, do you?"

"No, no! It's not that!" Pietro quickly reassured. "It's just that I've never lasted this long with any girl before."

"Oh," was all I could say.

"Mina, look," Pietro said as he picked up my hands and put them between his. "Having someone sincerely care about me is sorta new to me. I mean look who my father is. It's not that I don't feel the same way because I do. It's just that..."

"That what?" I asked. "Are you afraid that I'm gonna somehow abandon you?"

"It wouldn't be the first time that's happened," Pietro said as he looked away.

"Oh, Pietro," I said pulling him into a hug. "I'm promising you here and now that I will never abandon you."

"Do you mean that?" Pietro asked.

I kissed him and asked "Does that answer your question?"

Pietro and I continued making out until we eventually made our way to the bottom of the row boat with Pietro laying on top of me. We've never kissed each other this way before so it felt indescribable to me. Pietro kissed my neck as I stroked his back with my hand. Pietro's hand found it's way to my thigh and caressed it while my heart started beating a mile a minute. His hand slowly found it's way under my shirt and I was literally three seconds from panicking. I'm not sure if I was willing to take our relationship that far yet but there was a bigger problem at the moment.

"P-pietro," I said.

"What's wrong? Am I moving too fast?" Pietro asked.

"It's not that," I hurriedly said. "The boat's-"

I didn't even get to finish my sentence because the boat had already flipped over and brought us under the cold lake water. The boat was already lopsided when we rented it but Pietro and I must've slowly been tipping it over.

"Ah!" I half screamed and laughed as I swam above the water. The water was cold for April and my clothes were drenched in under a second flat. "I tried to warn you."

"Yeah, well the warning was a little too slow," Pietro sputtered as he tried to get the lake water out of his mouth.

"Don't blame me," I said as I splashed water on him.

"Hey! Watch the hair," Pietro said as he splashed water back.

"Do you really wanna go there?" I asked. "Babe, I'm hydrokinetic. This is one challenge you'll never win."

"You said that same thing when we first met and look where we are now," Pietro smirked.

"Okay, then. Get ready to restyle that hair of yours," I said as I made a small but formidable wave and sent it at him. It hit Pietro directly in the face and sent him under water. I laughed as I imagined how messed up his hair would be but my laughter died down when I realized that Pietro didn't come up for air yet.

"Pietro?" I called. "Pietro?"

I dove underwater and formed a water sphere around my head so I could breathe and search for Pietro. I found him slowly floating toward the bottom of the lake and used my powers to propel me toward him at a fast speed. I draped his arm around me and swam us toward the surface. After coming up for air, I swam us toward the edge of the lake and laid him on the ground.

'Please, Pietro,' I mentally pleaded. 'Please don't leave me, too.'

There was strangely no water in his lungs and it was only until I saw a smile forming on his face that I realized what was going on.

"Was this some sick twisted type of joke?" I asked in disbelief.

"I just can't believe you fell for it!" Pietro laughed. "I can hold my breath underwater for at least thirty minutes."

I turned my back to him and said "Well it wasn't funny."

"Aw come on, Mina," Pietro said as he crawled toward me and hugged me from behind. "It was only a joke."

"Pretending to drown isn't a joke," I said quietly. "Life and death are too delicate to be messed with like that."

"I really didn't-," Pietro began before he felt my shoulders moving slightly and heard me sniffling. "Whoa, hey are you crying?"

"What! No!" I quickly said wiping away at my tears. "There's lake water in my eyes."

"Mina, I know you well enough to know when you're lying," Pietro said.

"Okay, okay. It's just I thought you were gonna drown and I've had enough people I've cared about torn away from me," I said. "My brother, my aunt. I would lose it if I lost you too."

"I'm not leaving you," Pietro said. "I promise."

I leaned back and rested my wet matted hair on his chest. I gave a slight chuckle which made him ask me what's wrong. "LaToya is gonna kill me when I get home. I promised to not mess up my hair and look at it!"

"Yeah, drenched in water and covered in popcorn," Pietro snickered.

"Hey it's no better than your hair," I said as I looked up at him. "I messed it up pretty decent. But that's what you get for flipping the boat over."

"That reminds me, we never finished what we started," Pietro said with a lecherous gleam in his eyes. "You did promise me an awesome make out session if I did this double date thing."

"That I did," I said. "And I plan to hold up my end of the deal under two conditions."

"And what would those be?" Pietro asked.

"One: we're not having sex _here_ of all places," I bluntly said.

"Whoa! What makes you think I wanted to have sex?" Pietro asked.

"Pietro, you were so horny in the boat I'm kind of glad it tipped over," I chuckled. "Look, it's not that I don't want to, it's just that sex was the reason I broke up with my last boyfriend. I didn't give him any so he got it from some other girl."

"So you're a virgin?" Pietro questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"You say it like it's a bad thing," I scoffed. "I think when and if it's time that we do go that far, we'll both know if it's right time or not. Because here and now, aint the place."

"Okay, so no sex," Pietro said. "What was the second condition?"

"That you bring your A game," I smirked.

"That I can do," Pietro said leaning in.

"There you guys are!" Kitty exclaimed. Pietro and I stopped centimeter from each others lips and stared daggers at her and Lance. "Are we interrupting something?"

"Kind of," I replied.

"You guys are soaking wet," Lance said.

"No shit, Sherlock," Pietro mocked. "We fell in the lake. Mina, can you bring the boat in?"

"Sure," I sighed as I made a wave that moved the boat to the shore we were standing on. "Well, I think we may as well leave. Does anyone have the time?"'

"Uh, it's 9:47 P.M," Lance replied. "Why?"

Kitty and I looked at each other with wide eyes and yelled "We have to go now!"

"Why? It's still early," Pietro said.

"Well let's just say we're on a time limit," Kitty said.

"And if we're not back by ten there's a very angry and short man with adamantium claws who will maul the both of you," I said climbing back in the boat.

"It's going to take forever to row back to the boat rental place from here," Lance said. "We're already so far out!"

"Hello! Are y'all forgetting something?" I asked before gesturing toward Pietro and I. "Hydrokinteic and a guy with super speed."

"Right, I'll go with Pietro and Kitty'll go with you," Lance said as we switched boat partners.

After Kitty got in the boat, I held my hands out in front of me and used the water underneath the boat to rocket us forward toward the rental place. When we got there, Pietro and Lance had already docked.

"Slowpoke," Pietro said.

I stuck my tongue out at him as we ran toward Lance's jeep and after getting seat, Lance sped toward the mansion. We made it there and just before it turned ten, Kitty and I bolted into the door and yelled "We're here!"

"Made it just in time," Logan gruffly said.

"See? I told you I could handle it," I triumphantly said.

"Just one question, sprinkler," Logan said. "Why are you soaking wet?"

A/N: Aww, that was a cute chappie! Hit the little review button and tell me what you thought of this one! In the next chapter, we're revisiting Richmond as Mina, Anthony and LaToya go home for Andre's memorial. Can Mina handle being around her mom for a whole weekend? Well she won't be alone to do it! (0_^) Read the next chapter to find out what happens!


	21. The Memorial

A/N: Thank you for all the great reviews! Especially you, Ansa88 and imaninja41. This chappie is going to get pretty intense so you've been warned. ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution or any song used in this story, so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

The Memorial

I heavily groaned as I got out of bed. My clock was beeping irritatingly loudly, so I picked it up and threw it against the wall instead of shutting it off. This week was going to absolutely suck ass! Not only was it the weekend of the anniversary of Andre's death but I have to go back home and see that she-devil called my mom. The way we fight one of us is going to be dead by Sunday afternoon. And I wish I was joking when I say that.

At school during lunch

"Mina, you've hardly eaten your chicken Caesar salad," Scott observed.

"I'm not hungry," I said. The moment I said that everyone around the table dropped their forks and stared at me.

"_You're_ not hungry?" Rogue asked.

"You're always hungry!" Kitty exclaimed.

"There's definitely something up with you," Jean said. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Not really," I sighed. "You guys can ask Kurt though. He already knows."

"How would Kurt know?" Evan asked.

"I tell Kurt almost everything," I replied. "Go ahead and tell them."

"Mina, LaToya and Anthony are so sad because Saturday is zhe anniversary of their brother's death," Kurt told them. "But zhat's not vhat's bugging you is it?"

"Nope, I deal with his death every time I see fire," I dismissed. "I just really don't want to see my egg and sperm donors."

"You mean your parents?" Scott clarified.

"Same difference," I said. "If it wasn't for Andre's memorial I wouldn't even be going home."

"Oh, come on," LaToya said rubbing my arm. "Mom and dad aren't so bad."

"To you guys," I said pointing at my brother and sister. "They hate me. Not that I care."

"I think you do care," Talisa said. "But don't worry, I'm coming with you to keep you grounded."

I looked at Anthony and asked "And mom and dad are okay with this?"

"They said they'll be thrilled to see her again," Anthony said.

"Do they know you guys are dating?" I asked. Their nervous whistles made me laugh and say "Good luck with that then."

"It's just nice having someone close to you help you through something like this," LaToya said as she wistfully looked at Kurt.

"That's absolutely true," I said as I cut my eyes toward Pietro.

* * *

"Pietro, I need a favor," I said to him as we cuddled on the couch at the Brotherhood house after school.

"Uh-oh. The last time you said that we ended up on a double date with Lance and Pryde," Pietro groaned. "What is it this time?"

"Will you come to Richmond with me?" I asked as I anxiously bit my lip. "For Andre's memorial? I don't think I can go through it without you there."

"Uh," was all Pietro could say as he stared at me with his mouth slightly open.

"What's the matter?" I asked. "Are you scared of meeting my parents or something? Because trust me they don't care who I date anymore."

"Well, it's just that this is a big thing you're asking from me," Pietro said.

"Oh, it's okay if you don't want to go," I lied through a plastic smile. "Forget that I ever asked."

"Are you okay?" Pietro asked. "With me not going with you, I mean."

"No, no. I'm fine," I said. I looked at the clock mounted on the wall and said "Oh, wow! Look at the time. I have be packed and ready to leave in an hour."

"You're leaving so soon? But it's only Thursday," Pietro said.

"I know but we plan to get there late tonight," I said. I pulled a slip of paper out of my jean pocket and said "Here. If you change your mind this is my address in Richmond. If not, I'll see you Sunday afternoon."

"You're gonna be gone the entire weekend?" Pietro exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah. I'll see you when I see you," I said giving him one last kiss before quickly leaving. I gave a small wave to Lance before getting in my car and driving away.

"Hey, why was Semina in such a hurry to leave?" Lance asked. "She looked a little upset too. Did you guys have another fight?"

"No, she asked me to go home to Richmond with her for her brother's memorial," Pietro said.

"And you're not going because...?" Lance asked.

"Because I've never actually met the parents of any girl I've dated," Pietro replied in a hushed tone.

"That is absolutely pathetic," Lance said.

"I don't see having dinner with Pryde's parents," Pietro retorted.

"That's because they hate me," Lance plainly said. "But Semina's parents don't know you so they _can't_ hate you. I say just go and let things take it's course."

"But-" Pietro began.

"But nothing," Lance interrupted. "Look it's her brother's memorial. She _needs_ you there with her for support."

Pietro thought this over and sighed "Well, I'll see you guys Sunday afternoon."

* * *

Anthony drove LaToya, Talisa, Sasha and I to the airport in his car. My car didn't have enough room to store our luggage or carry Anthony for that matter. When he gets in my car, it's like putting an elephant in a clown car. At the airport, we met up with Logan and Ororo who would be flying us home. We couldn't take the X-Jet from the institute because Talisa was human and I doubt she would understand the whole mutant school thing anyway.

"Ooh, a private jet," Talisa said in awe. "That institute you go too must really pull out all the stops. How do I get in?"

"Well there's a special test you have to pass," I said as my brother, sister and I held back a laugh. We boarded the plane and waited for the jet to take us back home.

A jet and a car ride later

As soon as we pulled up to our house and Anthony, LaToya and Talisa got out of the car, I let out a loud groan.

"I don't wanna see her," I huffed as I crossed my arms defiantly.

"Sprinkler, just stay calm like we taught you and you'll be fine," Logan reassured.

"But-" I protested before Ororo said "No buts. Semina whether or not you like your parents, you are here to honor your brother's memory. But just remember, your parents do love you and they always will."

'I just wish I could believe that,' I thought before I said "Thanks. I'm just gonna have to tough it out and focus on Andre."

"We'll see you on Sunday," Logan said.

'If my mom hasn't killed me by then,' I thought as I got out of the car and headed toward the house. By the time I got in, my parents were already smothering Anthony and LaToya with hugs. When they saw me, my mom just uttered a quick hello while my dad gave me a high five. They quickly turned their attention back to the golden children before addressing Talisa. So much for sharing the love.

"Oh, my," my mom said. "Look at how you've grown."

"Yup, it was like it was just yesterday since Semina and I were playing with Barbies and landing back handsprings at six years old," Talisa smiled.

"Ah, yes. And look at you now," my mom said. "Dating our son."

"I hope your keeping him in line," my dad said in his deep bellowing voice.

"She's trying, dad," Anthony said.

"And what about you, LaToya? Any boyfriends we should know about?" my mom asked.

"No, not really," LaToya blushed.

"It doesn't matter who she dates," my dad said wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "No boy will ever be good enough for my baby."

"Well, I'm pretty wiped out from that plane ride," I fake yawned. "I'm gonna head upstairs and unpack."

While my mom and dad took little notice to my words, Anthony, LaToya and Talisa all hugged me before saying good night. It was only when I started up the stairs that my mom said "Semina, honey. You'll be sleeping in LaToya's room with her. Talisa will be sleeping in your room because she's a guest."

"What happened to your weight room?" I scowled.

"I figured we wouldn't need it anymore, so I put the room back to the way it used to be," my mom replied. "Oh and remember, we're having a late dinner at 9:00 P.M."

"Okay, whatever," I said as I trudged up the stairs. "I'll see you guys at dinner then."

I walked down the upstairs hallway and before entering LaToya's room, I quickly peeked in my old room. The navy blue walls that were there the last time I visited were now a creamy shade of pale orange and there was a bed and everything. Beautiful curtains for the window, a new carpet, my parents even put in a couch!

'I never got a couch when I was here,' I bitterly thought before closing the door and proceeding to my sisters room.

I looked around her room to see nothing has changed. Bright and cheery yellow walls, posters of Wiz Khalifa and J. Cole, and fuzzy plush toys scattered on her bed. Her room was bigger than mine so she could fit a desk in for her laptop and printer and luckily there was still enough room for me to sleep...on the floor. I sighed and slowly wasted time unpacking my clothes and essentials. LaToya walked in and sighed when she saw the unwavering pout on my face.

"Come on, Mini Mi," LaToya urged. "Lighten up. Things could be worse."

"I'm sleeping on the floor of my sister's room while my own room is the second guest room," I said. "How could this be worse?"

"You could be sleeping in the garage," LaToya offered.

"Hey, hey! Don't let mom get anymore ideas in her heads," I chuckled. "Because she just might do that."

"She's our mom not a monster," LaToya said.

'Not in your eyes,' I thought.

"Now come on it's time for dinner," LaToya said. "Mom made roasted pork."

"If there's _one_ thing mom can do right, it's cook," I said following my sister downstairs.

The smell of pork surrounded the air and with each step I took the hungrier I became. I didn't eat anything before I left the institute and could _you_ imagine Logan in a flight attendants outfit handing out little baggies of peanuts? I took my usual place at the table at the corner next to Anthony and LaToya and looked at the food on the table. My mouth watered at the sight of the pile of succulent pork, mashed potatoes with gravy, corn bread, salad, a bowl of vegetables and a pitcher of homemade grapefruit juice. We all joined hands and said a prayer over the food before digging in. I made sure I steered clear of the vegetables though because there was cauliflower in it. I doubt my parents even bothered to remember I'm allergic to them.

"So, Anthony, how have sports been going?" my dad asked.

"Great, I made first string on the football team," Anthony said.

"Are you the quarterback?" my mom asked.

"Nope, this guy, Duncan Matthews, is," Anthony replied. "Man, can he throw a football. Semina knows him, too. He's dating Jean. You remember her, don't you mom?"

"Oh of course," my mom said. "The pretty girl with the red hair. How could I forget such a sweet girl?"

"How's basketball going, baby?" my dad asked LaToya.

"I'm the captain," LaToya beamed. "Not to brag or anything but I led the team to every victory last season."

"That's my girl," my dad said with pride. "That's the old Wilson blood coursing through your veins. We're a family of athletes."

"Speaking of athletics, are you still cheerleading, Talisa?" my mother asked. I got a little hopeful that she was talking to me but it left as quick as it came when she said 'Talisa'.

"Yes, mam," Talisa replied. "It isn't the same with Semina, though. It's a shame she quit the team."

"You quit the team?" my dad asked. "Why?"

"I had a problem with the captain," I replied. "It's no big deal."

"Not a big deal?" Talisa exclaimed. "The squad hasn't been the same since you quit! We've had to cut back on the tumbling and we haven't had a decent or catchy song to dance to."

"I bet Misty must be hating the fact that she needs me there," I smirked.

"Oh yeah," Talisa agreed.

"Are you happy about this?" my mom asked. "You're letting everyone down! But that is what your best at."

"Thanks mom," I sarcastically said. "You're encouragement and kind words are what keep me going."

Before she had a chance to retort, the doorbell rang.

"Semina, go answer the door," my mom commanded.

I just rolled my eyes as I got up and walked toward the door. Sasha who was lounging by the door immediately sat upright and began barking excitedly. When I opened the door, my eyes widened and I let out a squeal. Sasha who was just as excited as I was jumped straight into the arms of Pietro after I swept him into a hug.

"Ah! Pietro, you came!" I said as I squeezed him before giving him a kiss that meant 'I missed you so much.'

"Yeah, I figured you needed me and you would probably would've die if I wasn't here," Pietro arrogantly said.

"Oh you are so full of yourself," I chuckled. "Why did you get here so late? You have super speed. You could've beat me here."

"I got lost," Pietro sheepishly said. "Aren't you going to invite me in?"

"Of course," I said taking his duffel bag and closing the door behind him. "Are you hungry? You caught us in the middle of dinner."

"I did just run here all the way from Bayville," Pietro said. "I'm running on empty here."

"Then let's get you a plate then," I said linking our arms together and escorting him into the dining room.

Everyone looked up as I came back in and confusion didn't even begin to describe the look on my parents face.

"Semina? Who is he?" my dad asked.

"Mom, dad, this is Pietro Maximoff," I said. "He's my boyfriend."

"B-b-boyfriend?" my dad sputtered.

"You never told us you had a boyfriend," my mom said.

"That's because you never asked," I pointed out. "Pietro, these are my parents, Dwight and Estelle Wilson."

"Nice to meet you both," Pietro said firmly shaking my dads hand. Despite his cool and confident outside, Pietro was more than nervous on the inside.

"That's quite a handshake you got there," my dad admired. "Do you play any sports?"

"I used to play basketball before I came to live in Bayville,"Pietro replied.

"How are your grades in school?" my mom inquired.

"Straight A's on every report card, mam," Pietro said.

"Ooh, an athlete and a scholar," my dad remarked. "Impressive."

"Thank you, sir," Pietro said. "I try my best."

"You're parents must've raised you right," my mom said. Pietro tensed up for a quick second but returned to normal soon after. With his super speed nobody saw it but I've been with Pietro long enough to catch little movements like that.

"Hey, guys. Enough with the questions," I said trying to change the subject. "Pietro's traveled all the way from Bayville to get here. He is pretty hungry."

"Oh, my mistake," my mom said quickly fixing a plate for him. "You must be very tired, too. When you finish, you can stay in the guest room. It's upstairs in the last door on the right."

"Thank you for being so nice, Mrs. Wilson," Pietro said. "I hope I won't be a burden."

"No, no burden," my mom dismissed. "And call me Estelle."

"Hmm, Semina, you haven't touched your vegetables," my dad noticed.

"I'm allergic to cauliflower, remember?" I said.

"Why aren't you eating your vegetables, Pietro?" my mom asked. "Your not allergic to cauliflower too, are you?"

"No," Pietro said. "I'm, um, allergic to carrots."

The real reason Pietro didn't eat any of the vegetables was because he knew if he did, he wouldn't be able to kiss me. That and he hates carrots. I mean come on, who doesn't.

"Oh, my apologies," my mom said. "If I had known you were coming ahead of time, I would've prepared the meal accordingly."

"It's alright, Mrs. Wil- I mean, Estelle," Pietro said.

"I hate to be rude but why are you here?" my dad asked.

"I came to offer my condolences to your deceased son as well as comfort my girlfriend through this difficult time," Pietro said taking my hand in his and rubbing it with his thumb.

"Considerate of our family and our daughter's well being," my dad observed. "I'm starting to like you already."

(Wow, you've actually one them over), I telepathically said. (If I could kiss you right now I would.)

(Save that option for later), Pietro replied.

(How have you manged to get them to like you so quickly?) I asked.

(That's the Maximoff charm at work), he said.

(Oh, hush), I said.

I held in a smile and being so wrapped up in a telepathic conversation with Pietro, I failed to notice my mom's face take on a look of suspicion. Dinner soon ended and my mom said every else could go turn in for the night except me and my dad.

"Am I in trouble or something?" I asked.

"You're about to be," my mom hissed. "During dinner I noticed you said something to that boyfriend of yours."

"Okay," I said 'Is this conversation going anywhere anytime soon?' kind of tone.

"You said something _telepathically_," my mom said. "Did you lose your common sense at the Xavier Institute? You know damn well you're not supposed to reveal your powers to humans!"

"What I say to my boyfriend is _my_ business and besides who said _anything_ about Pietro being human?" I smugly asked.

"You mean he's a mutant too?" my dad asked.

"Yes he is," I said. "Problem? He knows I'm a mutant, he knows about Anthony, LaToya and the institute. He knows about almost everything."

"What's _his_ power? Hypnotic charm?" my mom mocked.

"Ha ha. Funny," I dryly chuckled in reply. "No, super speed. How do you think he got here?"

"I don't know," my mom said. "Like a normal human."

"What's wrong with me dating a mutant?" I asked. "I thought you guys would be happy for me."

"Well a mutant dating another mutant isn't always a good thing," my mom said. "Vivian learned that the hard way."

"Wait what?" I asked. "I don't think I heard right. Did you just say Aunt Viv had a mutant boyfriend?"

"Yes, and he was just like yours," my mom reminisced. "Handsome, arrogant but quite the charmer. And come to think of it, she said he had white hair too. Oh, Vivian talked about him nonstop. Your Aunt fell in love with him but he broke her heart and she was never the same since."

"What was his name?" I inquired.

"Erik something," my mom replied. "It was so long ago, I don't even remember. She never let us meet him though."

"Mom, dad, I'm really tired so can I go to sleep now?" I asked as my heartbeat sped up at the horrifying thought in my head. "Don't you guys still have preparations for the memorial on Saturday?"

"We do," my dad said taking my moms hand before she could chew me out any further. "Come on, Estelle. Let's just leave the girl alone and get some rest."

"Okay, okay," my mom agreed before she disappeared into her bedroom downstairs. "I'll see you in the morning, Semina."

"Night," I choked out before racing upstairs. Instead of going into LaToya's room where I would be sleeping I crept into the guest room. Inside I found Pietro admiring himself in the mirror.

"Okay, we get it Pietro. You're a pretty boy," I said startling him. "There's something important I need to ask you."

"Y-yeah, sure," Pietro said.

"Is Magneto's real name Erik?" I asked.

"Hey, how did you know that?" Pietro asked.

"Oh my God," I mumbled as my skin paled.

"What's wrong?" Pietro asked. "It looks like you've seen a ghost."

"Oh no, it's nothing," I replied. "I'm fine. Good night, baby."

I gave him a kiss on the cheek and crept to LaToya's room where I quietly slipped on the floor and thought "My favorite Aunt used to date _Magneto_" before falling asleep.

The Next Morning

The smell of bacon woke me from my slumber and made me race downstairs after brushing my teeth, only to find that everyone was already downstairs.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," Pietro smirked.

"Mornin'," I said giving him a kiss before my dad loudly cleared his throat and Pietro and I both blushed like crazy. "Sorry dad. How'd you sleep, Pietro?"

"Fine," Pietro said before taking a bite of toast. "Best four hours of sleep ever."

"You only slept four hours?" my mom asked. "Was the bed too lumpy? Too many sheets? Not enough pillows?"

"No, the bed was fine, Estelle," Pietro replied.

"Pietro's an insomniac, mom," I said.

"Oh, now I understand why he was up so early," my mom said. "I found him downstairs looking through one of the family scrapbooks."

"Which one?" Anthony asked. "Because if it's the one with the picture of me when I was a baby naked and covered with powder, I may need to hurt someone."

"No, no. It was the one with the picture of Vivian helping Semina swim for the first time," my mom said. "Semina just loves the water."

"She sure does," Pietro agreed.

"So, Pietro when did you meet my daughter?" my dad pried.

"We met at Iron Back survival camp last year and I guess we just clicked," Pietro replied.

"It was a mutual attraction," I smiled. "There was just something about him that I liked."

"And she was a feisty one," Pietro said. "And stubborn."

"Shut up," I said. "I am not."

"Yes you are," Anthony, LaToya and Talisa said in unison.

"Y'all can shut up, too," I said.

"How long have you two been dating?" my mom asked.

"Since November," Pietro said.

"Has it really been that long?" I asked. "Seems like just yesterday that you took me to the carnival for our first date."

"Wait, you guys have been dating since the carnival and you never told me," Talisa said.

"It was on the DL for a while," I shrugged. "I wasn't sure how people would react if they found out we were dating. You should have seen people's faces when we walked down the hallway holding hands."

"I hope you're doing a better job with Pietro than you did with Darnell," my mom said. The moment she said that everyone at the table became silent. "Boys like those two are ones you can't let get away."

"I didn't let Darnell get away," I said through clenched teeth. "He cheated on me, so I dumped him. And speaking of Darnell, why did you tell him where I was living in Bayville?"

"You did what?" my dad boomed. Apparently, my mom never shared this piece of information with my dad and he hated Darnell more than I do. "You sent that boy to her and never told me?"

"He came to the house begging to know where you went so I told him," my mom replied. "He's such a sweet boy."

"Yeah, that sweet boy gave me bruises on my arms," I said. "That just screams kindness."

"When did this happen?" Anthony asked. "You know what, it doesn't matter. The next time I see that boy I'm gonna bruise him and see how he likes it."

"It's fine, Anthony," I waved off. "I had my strong, tough boyfriend to protect me."

"Yeah, I messed his nose up pretty bad," Pietro bragged.

"You broke it?" Anthony asked.

"Shattered it," I replied.

"Hmm, you aint so bad, Maximoff," Anthony said giving him a fist bump.

"I'm the best at what I do," Pietro said.

"Oh really?" Anthony inquired. "Then how about a little one on one outside?"

"Bring it on," Pietro said. "Semina, you might wanna get some tissues for your brother when we're done. Because when I win, I'm gonna make him cry like a baby."

"Big talk for a scrawny guy," Anthony smirked. "You better be able to back it up on the court and then we'll see who's crying once this is over."

"This is gonna get good," Talisa smiled.

"Let's go watch," I said as we followed after them.

Anthony and Pietro took to the court and we watched as they began their intense game of basketball. Anthony checked the bounce of the ball before passing it to Pietro and starting the game. Pietro dribbled the ball as he headed toward the hoop. He tried for a layup only to be blocked by my brother. Anthony got the ball and shot it in the hoop earning both two points and the first basket of the game.

"Lucky shot. I think it's time to for me to show you how it's done," Pietro said before he removed his shirt revealing a well toned set of six pack abs.

My face flushed with heat before I whistled a cat call at him. "You got this, Pietro!"

'What a show off,' Anthony thought.

Anthony dribbled the ball a few times before charging to ward the basket for a jump shot. Pietro jumped up and blocked it with a swat of his hand. As the ball fell to the ground both Anthony and Pietro scrambled for it. Pietro managed to recover it and shot a three pointer that went int the basket with a 'swoosh'.

"Oh, it's on now," Anthony said taking his shirt off as well.

"Now those are abs!" Talisa called out.

I pointed my finger at my open mouth in a way to say I was going to vomit before Talisa giggled and pushed my hand down. The game went on for almost twenty minutes before a victor was finally named. Despite Pietro's speedy moves, it was my brother who won by making it to thirty first. Anthony has never lost a game of one on one and today's game was no exception.

"Not so bad, Maximoff," Anthony panted.

"Ditto," Pietro said as he wiped sweat from his brow. "You got lucky but wait until the rematch."

"I'll remember that," Anthony said as they shook hands.

I couldn't help but smile at the sight of my brother and my boyfriend getting along. Hopefully they'll keep this up once we get back to Bayville.

"Good job out there," I said to Pietro.

"Yeah but I didn't win," Pietro huffed.

"No, but you looked sexy while you were playing," I smirked.

"As always," Pietro said.

"I would kiss you as a consolation prize but you're sweaty," I cringed. "Not that I mind the glisten off those abs but sweat isn't a turn on for me."

"Then how about I go shower and you can give me my prize," Pietro seductively whispered in my ear.

"I'll be waiting," I whispered back.

Pietro retreated into the house and I sat on the porch swing with LaToya who had been playing with Sasha.

"Did you watch the game?" I asked.

"Yup, who knew Pietro had such nice abs," LaToya chuckled. "I wonder if Kurt has abs."

"He does," I said. "They're blue and furry. It's amazing how he doesn't get fat even after eating so many Gut Bombs."

"How do you know he has abs?" LaToya asked.

"When we went to the beach, he was wearing an unbuttoned shirt," I said. "And I've seen him in his swim trunks in the pool."

"Did you take a picture?" my sister eagerly asked.

"No!" I exclaimed. "Why would I need one? It's not I knew you were going to ask for it sometime in the future. I'm a mind reader not a future see-er."

"I'll just have to find a way to see them when we get home," LaToya said. "By the way, I forgot to ask what you're wearing to the memorial tomorrow."

"Damn it!" I yelled. "I completely forgot to pack an outfit for it! I was so preoccupied with seeing mom that it must've slipped my mind."

"That means we have to go shopping," LaToya grinned. "I'll get my car ready. Go change out of you're pajamas and meet me here in ten."

"I thought your car was out of gas," I said.

"Dda filled it up after we left," LaToya said. "Now go get ready."

"Okay, okay," I said. "Come on, Sasha!"

Sasha obediently barked and followed me inside the house and up the stairs. The same time I reached the hallway, Pietro stepped out of the bathroom fresh, clean and wearing nothing but a towel. The sight of him was basically making me drool. His wet hair drooping toward the back of his head with his bangs covering his eyes, the rippling muscles of his chest and arms and the look of his abs were almost too much to bear.

"Enjoying the view?" Pietro smirked.

"I sure am," I said. "I could stare at you all day but I'm going shopping. Wanna go with me?"

"Sure, nothing better to do here," Pietro shrugged. "Give me a sec." Pietro disappeared into the guest room and less than a second he came out fully clothed and ready to go. "Done!"

"Good, now you can keep Sasha company as I change," I said. Sasha scampered toward Pietro and affectionately nuzzled his leg with her head. "Play nice, you two."

I slipped off my pajamas and pulled on a cute short skirt, yellow V-neck t-shirt and a pair of matching yellow sandals. I tied my hair in a ponytail, grabbed my purse and stepped out the door where I found Pietro rubbing Sasha's belly.

"Aww, how cute is that," I cooed. "Let's get going. I need to be home in time to swim in the pool before dinner. Maybe you can help me pick out a new swimsuit while we're at the mall."

That lit a fire under Pietro's ass and he said "Then-what's-the-hold-up? Let's-go!"

At the mall

We walked into the Richmond Mega Mall and old memories swirled through my head.

"Ah, it's good to be back in my old home," I joked. "I basically lived at the mall back in the day."

"Then you know where the good stores are," Pietro said. "Like the swimsuit shop."

"Later," I said. "I came to get a dress for the memorial tomorrow. Please tell me you brought a suit."

"He he. Funny story," Pietro nervously said.

"I don't have enough money to buy you a suit," I sighed.

"But I do," LaToya grinned as she held up a gold credit card. "Dad let me borrow his credit card."

"Lemme guess, you asked for it while he was watching the game?" I asked.

"Works every time," LaToya said as she twirled the card in her hand.

"Let's get the suit first," Pietro suggested. "Because it takes Mina months to decide on an outfit let alone try a bunch on."

"Shut up," I said as I nudged him in the arm. We walked around the mall until my expert mall navigation skills brought us to a Men's Wearhouse. LaToya and I waited in the chairs in front of Pietro who was being measured for a suit behind a set of curtains. LaToya and I idly talked until Pietro walked out fully dressed in a black suit.

"Ooh, someone looks suave," I said.

Pietro struck a pose and I giggled. "You've gotten even more handsome if that was possible."

"Go on," Pietro urged. "Tell me more about how much you adore me."

"She could stand here all day and do that," LaToya chuckled.

"She probably could," Pietro said before he kissed me.

We stood there kissing until LaToya loudly cleared her throat and said "Don't you have a dress to buy?"

"Right," I agreed. "Let's get the suit that my baby looks so dashing in so we can find a dress-"

"And a swimsuit," Pietro piped in.

"-for me," I finished.

LaToya used our dad's credit card and charged Pietro's suit to it. We left the store and strolled around the mall until we found a dress shop named "Lily's" which happened to be next to "Victoria's Secret" where I was going to buy a swimsuit. After pulling black dress after black dress off of the rack and scurried to the fitting rooms where I would try them on. With each dress came a different dislike: too short, too baggy, too open, not open enough, too whoreish, too long and worst of all too unflattering. After dress failure after another I finally found the best dress for the occasion.

"I think I found the right dress," I called out I as admired myself in the mirror.

"Took ya long enough," Pietro called back. "You've been in there for years!"

"Don't mind Pietro! He's just being impatient as usual!" LaToya yelled. "Come show us the dress."

Bot Pietro and LaToya looked confused when I walked out fully clothed holding the dress I was going to buy in my hand.

"Why aren't you wearing the dress?" LaToya asked.

"It's a dress for a memorial," I said. "It's not a prom dress or a wedding dress. I'm not gonna make you sit out here and tell me how nice I look in it or not. I'm just gonna buy it and you'll see it tomorrow at the memorial."

"Okay, whatever gets us outta here so I can watch you try on swimsuits," Pietro shrugged.

I paid for the dress and we proceeded to "Victoria's Secret". I don't know whether or not it was a good idea to let Pietro pick my swimsuit but I'll have to wait and see what he chose for me is too, for lack of a better word, unsuited to my taste. Pietro handed me his selections and I took them into the dressing room.

I tried on the first one which was a sexy pink two piece with silver stars. It was pretty but it could barely cover my breasts or my butt. The second one was a blue two piece with drawstrings at the sides of the bottom half. I loved the color but it's way too easy to undo one of these strings. The third was a green monokini that had rips up the sides. I loved the design but this shade of green reminded me of the Mystery Meat at school. The fourth was a black monokini that wrapped around my neck and had gold skulls plastered on it. I absolutely loved this one but I still had one left to try on. The last was a pink, purple and black cheetah print monkini that had a low dip in the front and was completely open in the back. This was so just as nice as the black one which left me in a dilemma. I liked both of them so much I didn't know which one to buy, so I did the easy thing: I bought them both.

"Which one did you get?" Pietro eagerly asked as I stepped out of the dressing room. "The pink one?"

"No, I got the black one and the cheetah one," I replied. "I assume by your disappointment that you wanted me to get the pink one."

"What can I say?" Pietro shrugged. "With a body like that I'd show it off every chance I get."

"I'm sure you would," I snickered.

After purchasing the swimsuits, we walked out of the store and were just about to head home when my sister got hungry.

"I'm going to the food court," LaToya declared.

"But I want to go swimming," I whined.

"Then you can walk home," LaToya said. " 'Cause I'm not leaving until I get some food."

I huffed and reluctantly followed my sister into the food court with Pietro closely following behind. I figured since we we here might as well get a corn dog with chili cheese fries and a jumbo slushie. While Pietro and I shared the fries and slushie, I kept the corn dog for myself. LaToya devoured her plate of grande nachos and three slices of pepperoni pizza before we even finished! Satisfied with her meal she finally decided we could leave. As we proceeded toward the exit, a group of boys came up to us. I immediately my bags dropped to the ground and gave one of the boys a hug.

"Kevin!" I exclaimed.

"Semina," Kevin replied as he hugged back. "Damn girl, I aint see you in a minute."

"I'm living in New York now," I said.

"I heard. Was Richmond getting too boring for you?" Kevin teased.

"Of course not," I said. "I got accepted into a prestigious institute."

"Oh yeah, I forgot you were smart," Kevin said.

"What? No hug for me?" Shawn asked. "You know you're wrong for that."

"Shut up," I said as I gave him a hug as well.

Kevin and Shawn were two of my childhood friends that I always used to hang out with. They were my two favorite guy friends and Kevin was Andre's best friend whereas Shawn was Anthony's best friend. LaToya used to have a crush on Shawn which I can still see slightly lingering because when he hugged her, she blushed.

Pietro loudly cleared his throat and asked "Aren't you going to introduce me?"

"Right. Kevin, Shawn, this is my boyfriend, Pietro," I said.

"Boyfriend?" Kevin questioned.

"I was wondering who the white boy was," Shawn said. "_This_ is who you're dating now?"

"Yes it is," I defensively replied. "He's sure as hell a step up from Darnell."

"What homeboy did to you was so wrong," Kevin said. "I saw him the other day with a cast on his nose. He said he broke it while he visited you."

"Oh, he didn't break it,_ I_ broke it," Pietro said. "He just couldn't keep his hands to himself."

"Respect," Kevin said as he gave Pietro a fist bump. "I would've done the same thing."

"Hmm, and all this time I thought he was soft," Shawn chuckled. "Never thought the white boy had it in him."

"Hey, enough with the race crap. I'm black and he's white, so what?" I groaned. "At least I'm dating someone. I don't see any girlfriend hanging from your arms."

"As a matter of fact, I have a girlfriend," Shawn reassured.

"Where is she? 'Cause I don't see her," I said.

"She's right here," a voice I recognized all too well said as she stepped out from behind the crowd of boys.

I looked at the girl in disgust and viciously said "Oh, Janay. I almost didn't recognize you fully clothed and not under Darnell."

"Well, I'm with Shawn now," Janay said. "But as far as I see it, you should be thanking me."

"For what?" I snapped.

"For saving you from an extremely tiny penis," Janay laughed.

As much as I wanted to laugh, I held my stern facial expression and said "Maybe I _should_ be thanking you. If I were still with Darnell, I wouldn't have met Pietro."

I gave Pietro a kiss on the cheek and felt his pride from being bragged about.

"So are you two coming to Andre's memorial?" LaToya spoke up.

"We wouldn't miss it for anything," Kevin said. "Saturday at noon, right?"

"Right," I confirmed. "My mom's having a get together at our house later. Come through, okay. I'm sure Anthony hasn't seen in you in months."

"We'll be there," Shawn said.

LaToya and I hugged them goodbye before finally driving home.

* * *

"Ah," I sighed as I felt the cool water of the pool surround my body. I let my body float on the surface of the pool before diving underneath the water with a swimming cap to keep my hair dry of course. I appeared from under the pool and swam to the edge where I rested my arms and lazily kicked my feet. "This is so peaceful."

"Cannonball!" I heard my brother yell.

I snapped my eyes open and before I could yell "No, Anthony! Don't!" he had already splashed into the pool creating a huge wave of water that crashed over me and sent me under water.

"Anthony!" I yelled as I resurfaced. "My hair better not be wet because of you!"

"Oh, relax, short stuff," my brother dismissed. "You love the water!"

"Not in my hair I don't," I retorted.

Talisa and my sister came out with pool chairs and towels. My sister was in a white two piece that showed off her curves and Talisa was in a lime green one piece that showed off her fit, cheerleader physique.

"Damn, look at you," Anthony said. "You look good int that swimsuit."

"I know," Talisa smiled.

"Come here so I can appreciate it from up close," Anthony said.

Talisa splashed into the pool and swam over to my brother where she gave him a passionate kiss on the lips.

'Wow, they're almost as bad as me and Pietro,' I thought. 'And speaking of Pietro where is he?'

Just then, Pietro came outside wearing a pair of white swim trunks with blue lightning blots on them. The word 'amazingly hot' couldn't even begin to describe how he looked.

"Semina, you're staring," LaToya called out.

"I know," I called back. "How could I not? What are you waiting for, Pietro? Come in the pool with me! I know you want to."

"Just a sec," Pietro said as he walked back into the house. He ran toward the pool, minus the super speed and jumped into the pool.

"Ugh!" I groaned as I fixed my swimming cap again. "You're just as bad as my brother."

"Yeah, well I bet my splash was bigger," Pietro said.

"Is everything a challenge to you?" Anthony asked.

"What can I say? I love to win," Pietro shrugged.

"How about we play a game of chicken then?" Talisa suggested. "Me and Anthony versus you and Semina."

"You're on," Pietro agreed. "Me and Mina are gonna win this, right Mina?"

"I'll play," I said. "But if my hair gets wet one of you is gonna have to buy me a perm."

"Up ya go," Pietro said as he went underwater to let me climb on his shoulders.

"Get ready to lose," Talisa said as she climbed on my brothers shoulders and the game got underway.

Five games of chicken later

"Ha!" I said triumphantly as I high-fived Pietro.

"I told you we were gonna win," Pietro gloated before pulling me into a kiss. "Great job out there, babe."

"You too," I said. "It's takes a strong boy to lift me on their shoulders that long."

"Well, I do work out," Pietro said before flexing and striking poses.

I giggled and kissed him on the cheek for being so, well, Pietro.

"Okay! We get it. You guys are dating," LaToya shouted. "Just stop with the excessive PDA."

"Damn, what's your problem?" I asked.

"Someone's a little sour because Kurt's not here," Anthony teased in a sing song tone.

"Shut up! I am not!" LaToya cried out before defiantly crossing her arms and pouting,.

Pietro sputtered before releasing deep, resonating laughter. "You like blue boy?"

LaToya blushed before saying "Yeah, so what?"

Pietro started to answer but fell back into laughter. LaToya rolled her eyes while she irritatedly stormed away.

"What's wrong with Kurt?" I asked.

"He's just so innocent and virtuous," Pietro chuckled. "He doesn't seem like her type. They would be an odd couple."

"LaToya loves funny guys," I shrugged as I swam to the edge of the pool and pulled myself out. "It's always been that way. Now come on, it's dinner time. I can already smell the beef."

Pietro came out of the pool and stood before me dripping in pool water. I couldn't help but to ogle how perfect he looked.

"Y-you might want to change first," I said. "I don't think I could focus on eating with a body as perfect as yours sitting next to me."

"Fine, I'll go change but." Pietro began before pressing his body against mine and whispering "You know you want me to stay like this."

I shivered as he ran his hand down my back and even as he ascended the stairs I still felt goosebumps on my skin.

After dinner

I lay on the hard floor of LaToya's room tossing and turning from the terrible nightmare I was having.

_Pitch black darkness with a creepy silence that hung thick in the air surrounded me. There wasn't a sliver of illumination anywhere in sight. A sudden burst of hot flames lit the darkness to the point where the light was overwhelmingly bright enough to blind me. Then screaming, so much screaming. Screams underlined with pain, terror and fear. I dropped to my knees, squeezed my eyes shut and clamped my hands over my ears as if to block out the scene playing around me. Suddenly a mirror appeared in front of me and as I stared into it I saw nothing. No, wait. Not nothing. A skeleton appeared as my reflection. A skeleton with the head of my dead brother, Andre._

My eyes snapped open as I quickly sat up from the floor covered in sweat with tears spilling from my eyes. I hadn't realized I was screaming until Pietro and Anthony barged in. LaToya was already by my side calming me down.

"Semina, are you okay?" Pietro asked with a look of concern on his face.

"Another nightmare?" LaToya asked already knowing the answer.

I gave a small nod as I pulled my legs up to my chest.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" Anthony offered.

"N-no," I choked out. "I-I'm fine. I'm sorry for waking you up."

"It's okay, really," Pietro said as he sat next to me and smoothed my messy hair.

"You guys can go back to bed," I urged. "The memorial's in the morning remember? You need to sleep."

"Okay," Anthony agreed finally caving in. He kissed my forehead and said "I'm in the other room if you need me."

I nodded before he retreated from the room. "You guys too," I said referring to my sister and boyfriend. "I'm fine now. Nothing to worry about."

They both opened their mouths to retort but I gave them a pleading look that stopped them. Pietro gave me a kiss on the cheek before saying "It's going to be okay. These nightmares won't last forever."

"I hope not," I mumbled.

"Anything you wanna talk about?" LaToya asked after Pietro returned to the guest room.

I began to say something before I decided against it and said "No. It was just a nightmare as usual. Nothing that needs to be discussed."

"Well, okay," LaToya unsurely replied.

As LaToya quickly fell back into a deep slumber, I lay back and stared up at the ceiling. There was no way I was going to be able to sleep soundly tonight. After debating with myself whether this was a good idea or not, I grabbed my blanket and pillow and slowly crept out of the room. I gave a soft knock onto Pietro's door and happily sighed when he answered.

"C-can I come in?" I shyly asked.

Pietro nodded and said "Of course, it's your house."

"I'm not going to be able to sleep, so is it okay if I lay with you?" I asked. "With your insomnia and all I figured we could talk for a while."

"I'd like that," Pietro smiled as we climbed into the bed. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I snuggled closer to him. "So what do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know," I shrugged until a question came to mind. "How'd you first find out you were a mutant?"

"It's a long story," Pietro said.

"I've got all night," I smiled. "I'm all ears."

Several hours later

"And then I found out that my skirt was tucked into my underwear during the entire routine," I laughed. "It was the most embarrassing cheerleading competition ever!"

"I bet the judges thought it was hilarious," Pietro chuckled.

"Hilarious? It was so funny they gave us first place out of pity," I snickered.

A ray of sunshine hit us from the cracks between the blinds as I pulled Pietro closer to me. "I'm impressed. We've been in one spot all night and you haven't been jittery at all."

"Why would I move from being in bed with my girlfriend? Especially while she's wearing that," Pietro said referring to my pink and blue polka dotted shorts and pink tank top.

"We haven't done anything," I said.

"Maybe I should change that," Pietro suggested before capturing my lips in a kiss.

An approaching mind made me pull back from Pietro and hop out of the bed. I made a beeline for the closet and hid inside of it the very moment my mom walked in.

"Good morning, Pietro," she greeted. "Breakfast will be ready in a little bit. I made my famous cinnamon raisin french toast so hurry and get downstairs before it's all gone."

"Er, uh. T-thank you, Estelle," Pietro stuttered. "I-i'll be ready soon."

I waited for my mom to get back downstairs before emerging from the closet and saying "That was close. If my mom would've caught me in here, she would have killed me."

"Your brother would've done worse to me," Pietro shuddered.

"Let's go get ready for breakfast," I said as I peeked out of the door. There was no one in the hallway so I quietly proceeded toward the bathroom. (The coast is clear, Pietro.)

After I got into the bathroom, Pietro crept in after me. I picked up my brush and pumped toothpaste on it before handing it to Pietro who followed suit. As we finished brushing our teeth, I sighed and said "Fresh breath at last."

"The better to kiss you with," Pietro said before kissing me. I tasted nothing but peppermint on his tongue and I was loving it. I leaned on the sink counter for balance but we both stopped when we heard a knock on the door. I quickly told Pietro to turn on the shower just in case.

"Who is it?" I breathlessly asked.

"It's me," Talsisa called out. "Let me in. I have to pee."

"Just a sec," I said. I pointed toward the shower and Pietro got in and closed the curtain. I unlocked the door and quickly climbed in after him.

"Thank you," Talisa huffed. "I was getting ready to wet myself."

"TMI," I sighed.

"Sorry," Talisa chuckled. "So where's Pietro? His room door was open and he wasn't in there."

"He, uh, went out for a run," I told her. "My baby has to keep in shape."

"Oh, no wonder he looks so good," Talisa said as she flushed the toilet.

"Hey! That's my boyfriend you're talking about," I snapped. "Only I can call say how good he looks."

"Calm down," Talisa said turning the sink on to wash her hands. "I'm just stating the obvious."

"Well, I'll do that. Thank you very much," I said as I saw Pietro's smile.

"Whatever." Talisa quickly brushed her teeth before saying "I'll meet you downstairs" before she exited the bathroom.

As she closed the door, Pietro and I struggled to hold back laughter. I shut off the still running shower and Pietro and I got out of it.

"We're never going to get to have some time alone are we?" Pietro asked as he wrapped his arms around my waist.

"I doubt it," I heavily sighed as I wrapped my arms around his neck. I gave him a peck on the lips and said "I think I'll go save us some French Toast."

* * *

Following breakfast, the day turned from a somewhat cheery morning to a grim noon. I had my arm latched in Pietro's as we walked into the church. Delicate white roses were placed around it along with people I recognized from Andre's funeral. Everyone was dressed in black and wore the same grief stricken and tearful faces as six years ago. A portrait of Andre was set up the front and it was one of my favorite pictures of him. His hazel eyes sparkled and his smile gleamed as he wore an expression that any twelve year old would have; both happy and carefree. I felt Pietro tense up and I looked in his direction to see Darnell walking toward us. Sporting a nose cast, might I add.

"Hello, Semina," Darnell greeted. "I came to offer my condolences."

"Thank you," I softly said. He looked like he wanted to say something else but decided against it and awkwardly walked away.

People who said similar things to state their sympathy also approached me as well as my family. After they all found seats in the pews, Pietro squeezed my hand and asked "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I replied in monotone. "I've dealt with it all before."

Pietro eyed her suspiciously because he noticed something everyone else also seemed to see: Semina wasn't crying. Not a single tear was being expelled from her eyes unlike the rest of her family and the memorial goers. Her face was stern but sad, like she was trying to keep everything bottled in. 'What is going on with her?' Pietro thought.

The loud church bells clanged together signaling the memorial was about to begin. Pietro and I hurried to our seats in the front of the church with family and close friends.

Pastor Thomas solemnly walked to the podium and said "We are here to honor the memory of Andre Marquis Wilson who died six years ago on this day. Join hands and we shall pray that his soul is resting peacefully."

After a quick prayer, he continued "Andre's brother and sisters will now say a few words on his behalf."

Anthony was the first to speak. "Andre wasn't only my twin but her was basically the best friend I ever had. Whenever I had a problem, he was there to help me out. Whether it was as small as deciding between video games or as big as teaching me to be more confident."

Tears slid down my brothers cheeks as his voice began to tremble when he said "He's not really gone though. Not entirely anyway. Everyday I look in the mirror, I see Andre. No matter what I do or where I go, I see him in. I loved my brother like no other and I pray that he's in a better place right now. I just wish I could see him one more time to tell him how much he meant to me."

Anthony stepped down and LaToya stepped up. She was already crying but she managed to get her words out clearly. "Andre was one of my biggest bullies as a child. But he was also my biggest rock. No matter how may times he made fun of my hair or pushed me in the mud, I know he would always be there for me at the end of the day with a towel, a cookie and kind words. My biggest regret is that I never got the chance to say goodbye to him before he died but I couldn't have known that that day my brother was going to be gone forever. But Andre's memory lives on in us everyday and I'm more thank grateful for that."

I stepped up to the podium as soon as LaToya returned to her seat in the pews. "There are no words to describe the love I feel for Andre. There were times that I took him for granted but after he was gone I realized how much I needed him. He was strong enough for both me and him when times were hard and looking back, it helped me a lot. But everyday, the thought I wasn't strong enough to save him before he died haunts me. The day he died, I was the only one with him. I saw him die right in front of my eyes and I was powerless to stop it. And I hate myself for that. I know-"

My voice caught in my throat as I tried to will out my next words but I couldn't bring myself to say them. I wanted to say that everyone would be better off if _I_ had died in that fire instead of him. My mother would've certainly wanted it that way. However I said "I know that Andre doesn't want me to think that it's my fault but I can't help but blame myself. If I could go back six years, I would do anything and give up everything to bring him back. But for now, I want everyone to honor him and never forget the things he's done."

Even after all the emotion I poured into that speech, I still felt no tears in my eyes. I felt grief and remorse but I couldn't bring myself to cry. I sat back down next to Pietro and he wrapped a supportive arm around me and I was glad for it.

* * *

The house was still and quiet. My parents left to visit a few grieving neighbors while my brother, sister and Talisa cleaned up downstairs with Pietro. I plopped down on Pietro's bed in fatigue. Staying up all night talking left me in desperate need of some sleep. I slipped under the comforter and basked in Pietro's lingering scent. Within moments I was asleep; but not pleasantly I may add. Once again I was trapped in another nightmare.

_Extreme heat engulfed my body as I lay on the wet, soft grass. I struggled to open my eyes but when I did I instantly regretted it. Standing before was a person set ablaze writhing in pain. I cautiously approached them and gasped. Standing in the fire was not Andre but myself. Skin melting away, flesh being burned and bones charring from the intense flames._

"_This is how it should have happened and you know it," a voice from above said. That voice was my own mother's. "I wanted Andre alive, not you."_

_I looked deep into my own eyes and staring at myself was me in Andre's body watching what my mother thinks should've happened._

"AHH!" I shrieked as I snapped awake.

"Semina, it's alright," Pietro said as he cradled me in his arms.

"W-when did you get here?" I asked.

"A few minutes ago," Pietro replied. "I was coming up for my four hours of sleep when I found you in my bed."

"Sorry," I apologized. "I can leave if you want."

"No, no stay, "Pietro urged. "I don't mind."

Pietro slipped under the comforter and pulled me close to him.

"Thank you," I smiled.

"For what?" he questioned.

"Just for being here," I answered. "It means a lot to me."

"Anytime," Pietro said. "I'll always be here if you need me."

Pietro weakly smirked as he realized I wasn't listening because I had dozed off.

A few hours later

My eyes slowly fluttered open and I smiled as I looked straight into the eyes of my boyfriend.

"Were you watching me sleep?" I asked.

"You looked so peaceful and beautiful that I didn't want to wake you," Pietro sheepishly replied.

"I didn't think I'd sleep that soundly with the nightmares I usually get," I said.

"It's because of me," Pietro arrogantly boasted. "It's impossible to have a nightmare with me sleeping next to you."

"Y-you're right," I agreed. "All cockiness aside, having you next to me puts me at ease for some reason. You're my security blanket. I think you make me happy even in my sleep."

"Well, I'm here for you," he said lacing his fingers into mine.

"Promise me that you always will be," I whispered as a single tear slid down my cheek. "D-don't leave me."

Pietro brushed the tear away and whispered "I promise," before leaning into my lips for a, dare I say it, _loving_ kiss.

Downstairs

Mr. and Mrs. Wilson entered through the front door and Mrs. Wilson sighed heavily at the sight of her son playing video games again.

"Really, Anthony?" she questioned. "This is how you're choosing to spend the day? What am I going to do with you? Where's your sister? And Talisa and Pietro for that matter. "

"LaToya's on the phone with Kitty," Anthony answered. "And Semina's upstairs sleeping. Talisa's e-mailing her parents and Pietro's in the guest room doing whatever he does."

"I'll go check to see if either of them are hungry," Mrs. Wilson said ascending the stairs and heading toward the guest room. She knocked lightly before entering. "Pietro, honey, are you-?" She stopped in mid-sentence because what she saw surprised her. "WHAT IS GOING ON?"

On the bed was Semina and Pietro intertwined with each other kissing passionately.

"Mom!" I exclaimed as I broke apart from Pietro.

"So this is what you do when your parents aren't around?" my mom asked. My mom's loud voice had manged to make everyone else in the house gather around the doorway.

"Semina, what are you doing in bed with that boy?" my dad questioned.

"We were just kissing," I explained. "As you can see I'm fully clothed and so is Pietro. We didn't do anything! "

"Not yet," my mom hissed. "I knew it was a mistake letting you stay here, Pietro because I knew this would happen."

"Why can't you believe me when I say nothing happened," I huffed. "You believe me, right daddy?"

"Finding my fifteen year old daughter making out with some boy?" my dad said as he shook his head. "I'm not sure what to believe."

"Seventeen," I said through clenched teeth.

"What?" my mom asked in confusion.

"I'm _seventeen_ years old," I repeated. "One year away from being an adult. Not that either of you would know. Neither of you give a damn about me."

"Now you know that's not true," my dad reassured.

"Sure it's not," I sarcastically snapped. "When was the last time you called to check on me in Bayville or even tell me you love me for that matter?"

"It goes without needing to be said," my dad said.

"You're really unbelievable, Semina," my mom wryly chuckled. "It's the anniversary of brother's death and instead of grieving you're acting like a little whore!"

"I AM NOT A WHORE!" I yelled. "So don't you _dare_ call me that!"

"Sure you are," she continued. "It's the only explanation for your behavior. It's probably the reason why you lost your last boyfriend. He saw how willing you were to sleep with him and labeled you a no good, dirty _ho_."

By now, I had lost all attempts at being civil about this matter and released my anger. I was seeing red and Pietro restrained me as I lunged for my mother in pure hatred. "Let me go! LET ME GO!"

"Oh and see that you can't control your temper either," my mom added. "Always ready to fly off the handle at the drop of a dime. You're just an angry slut who has no business having such a nice family and life."

"I HATE YOU!" I screamed. "I hate you so much, you evil bitch! I hope you burn in hell for being so wicked!"

"You should have been the one burning!" my mother yelled finally breaking her somewhat calm demeanor. "Six years ago, _you_ should have died, not Andre."

"How can you wish that about your own daughter?" I cried out in anger. "What have I ever done to you to make you hate me this much? Why don't you love me?"

"Because I blame you for his death!" my mom bellowed. "I regret everyday that you survived and he didn't! If any one should be hating someone, it should be me. You are the most evil child that I wish I never gave birth to. Everyone would have been better off with you dead because you're absolutely worthless!"

"I always knew you felt that way," I seethed as angry tears slipped from my eyes. "Hearing you say it just gives me just cause why I'm sorry you are the way you are. So you know what? Fuck you. I don't give a damn about what happens to you anymore because as a mother you're **_dead_** to me."

I struggled out of Pietro's grasp and roughly shoved past my mother, went downstairs and disappeared out of the door.

"You are one messed up, lady," Pietro said staring my mother down in malice. "Semina has every right in the world to hate you."

He followed after me while my mom screamed "I don't care is she hates me or not! I don't love that demon child!"

"MOM, THAT'S ENOUGH!" Anthony angrily screamed. "I am so tired of you treating Semina this way. She isn't the reason Andre's dead so so stop acting like it's her fault!"

"It is her fault!" my mother screamed back. "If she wasn't so weak and useless, your brother would still be alive."

"MOM, SHUT THE HELL UP!" LatToya yelled. "You know damn well that she couldn't have done anything to save him!"

"LaToya, calm down," my dad said.

"Why didn't you tell Semina to calm down? Huh?" LaToya asked. "You guys are never there for her when she needs help or comfort. We're more of her parents than you two are!"

"You know what? We are sick and tired of you always picking a fight with her," my brother said to my mom. "And we are sick and tired of you acting like you're the victim. You're a grown ass woman who's picking on a seventeen year old girl and making her feel guilty about something she couldn't have prevented!"

"I'm not surprised if Semina never comes back because I would've done the same thing," LaToya said. "And that's run away from you and all your bullshit."

"And we really do feel bad that you're this way," Anthony said. "You need some kind of mental help because there is seriously something wrong with you."

Anthony, LaToya and Talisa left the room while my mom sighed and said "Those two don't know what they're talking about, right Dwight?"

She reached out to touch him but he pulled away and said "You've gone too far this time, Estelle. I agree with them completely. You need to stop blaming her because we all know it's not her fault."

My dad left the room leaving my mom standing there looking confused but not the least bit guilty.

* * *

Pietro wandered around the unfamiliar city feeling hopeless and sad. He was looking for Semina because after the fight she had with her mother she just disappeared.

'I never knew Semina's life was that hard,' he thought. 'All this time I though she was overreacting about her mom being evil. Now I see why she hates her and refuses to talk about her. She almost puts Magneto to shame for being worst parent of the decade.'

Night had already fallen so it was getting harder for Pietro to search for Mina.

'Okay, where would I go if I just had a fight with my mom about my dead brother?' Pietro silently mused.

His eyes widened and he used his super speed to run over to where he thought she'd be. Pietro, being very observant of his surroundings, noticed that on their way back from the memorial they passed a cemetery. After running around for a while he finally found it. Pietro carefully tiptoed around the grave plots in search of Semina. He released a scared breath he didn't know he was holding once her found Semina on her knees kneeling in front of a tombstone. As he approached her, he heard her quietly talking. Some parts he heard clearly but others were in a hushed whisper.

"I'm so sorry, Andre," I said as I stared at the tombstone. "I didn't mean to let you die. Maybe I _should_ have died instead of you. That's what mom thinks anyway. I had another fight with her just now. She always screams mean things at me. What she says is true though. I'm just a useless weakling who should be in your place right now. I know that's how everyone wants it to be. People would be happier that way. Nobody cares about me. Except Tony and Toya. They always care. Oh and my boyfriend Pietro. He's a pretty great guy. It's a shame you'll never meet him. I can just picture you giving him a once over and being an overprotective big brother like how I always dreamed you'd be."

My vice dropped to a low whisper as I said "We've been dating for a while and I think I'm finally ready to tell him the truth about everything. Aunt Viv, Sierra and how deep my care for him goes. Pietro is _the one_ and I need him to know that. I think I'll tell him when we get back to Bayville tomorrow. Or maybe I shouldn't. I'll probably scare him off that way. It may be too soon to tell him. But I think I'll know when the times right, Andre. I'm sure of it. I hope your in a good place, big brother. I love you so much and I miss you even more."

I kissed my fingers and placed them on the cold tombstone. I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Pietro with glossy eyes as if he was about to cry.

"Semina," Pietro said.

Even though he barely said anything the look in his eyes said _everything_. I nestled myself into his arms and finally released the tears and emotions I've been so desperately trying to bottle up all weekend.

A/N: Oh, wow. This actually made me tear up a little bit. It's too bad that Pietro didn't hear the last part of what Semina said. But don't worry folks. Those three little words will show up soon enough. So how'd you like this chappie? Hit the little review button and tell me! In the next chapter, we change the sad tone to a more lustful one *wink* Read the next chapter for all the steamy details!


	22. Interruptions

A/N: Apparently people have forgotten about my story from my lack of updates, so I haven't gotten that much reviews. Here's the long story made short. My computer wouldn't turn on for weeks and my sister's laptop was getting debugged so I didn't have anything to type on. But cheer up, I still have plenty of new chappies to post so just be patient. Here's the newest one and no they're not gonna do _it_. ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution or any song used in this story, so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

Interruptions

"So what are you wearing?" Pietro teased playfully. "Anything sexy?"

"If you count a sheer black nightgown sexy," I sultrily replied, playing along with Pietro's silliness. "What about you?"

"I'm wearing nothing but my boxers," he said. "Maybe you should come see for yourself."

"Ooh, you naughty , naughty boy," I chuckled. "Pietro, you know I can't come over right now. It's three in the morning and I have training at six. Wolverine would kill me for sneaking out so late."

"Fine, fine," Pietro sighed. "What if you come over when your finished training?"

"I'll have to check my schedule but I think I can squeeze you in," I smirked.

"And I'd like to squeeze those-" Pietro began until my telepathy sensed a familiar mind approaching.

"Shh!' I cut him off. "I have to concentrate for a second."

After figuring out who's' mind it was Pietro asked "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"Pietro, where's Lance right now?" I questioned. "Is he in his room."

"He should be," Pietro said. "Hang on a sec."

I heard him put down the phone, zoom out of the room then return. "How'd you know he wasn't there?"

"Because I sense his mind coming closer and closer toward the institute," I replied. Just then the alarm blared loudly and I groaned in frustration. "Why is he here?"

"Hell if I know," Pietro retorted.

"I'll have to call you back later," I sighed. "I need to go take care of this."

"Geez Lance. He had to ruin a very hot conversation with my girlfriend even when he's not here," Pietro irritatedly said. "I'll see you later, babe."

"Goodnight, Pietro," I said as I gave a kiss into the receiver getting a kiss back from him in return.

I got out of bed and reluctantly pulled on my X-Men suit.

Thirty minutes later

"This is what I got out of bed for?" I asked in disbelief and irritation. "Because Lance wants to join the X-Men I had to get off the phone with my boyfriend and get out of the warm comfort of my bed?"

Apparently Lance suddenly decided to come join us because he got tired of dealing with the Brotherhood. But I know he's just doing this to be closer to Kitty.

"That's right," Lance confirmed with a smirk.

"If I didn't respect you, I'd be doing you bodily harm," I snarled. I took my cellphone out and dialed Pietro's number. I started walking out of the room and what everyone heard as I left was "Hey babe, I'm back. So where were we? No, you cannot squeeze them!"

* * *

"So how do you guys feel about having Lance at the mansion?" I asked my brother and sister as we walked down the hallway of Bayville High.

"It's certainly different," LaToya replied. "Not a lot of people trust him."

"You guys didn't trust Pietro when you found out we were dating," I offered. "These things take time."

Anthony sucked his teeth and said "I still don't trust him. Not as much as you do."

"Even after what happened at the memorial?" I questioned. "It took a lot of guts for Pietro to stand up for me like that. And you guys bonded!"

"His track record doesn't exactly excite me," Anthony told me. "A man's past tells a lot about his future."

"Okay, look at you. Spitting some wisdom like your grown," I chuckled. "But believe me, I can handle Pietro, big bro. I'm a big girl now. I tie my own shoes and everything."

"Just be careful with him," Anthony warned. "And I do mean _careful_."

"Define careful?" I asked.

"He means tell Pietro to wrap it up," LaToya bluntly said. "I'm too young to be an auntie."

I looked like a deer in headlights when I exclaimed "Whoa! _That's_ what you two think we're doing?"

"We've seen the way you two make out," LaToya said.

"You guys like your going to swallow each other whole," Anthony shuddered.

"What about you and Talisa?" I asked. "You're almost as bad as us."

"Maybe but I'm not reckless," Anthony replied. "I know how to be a man when the time comes and not go in without protecting us both."

I covered my ears and said "La la la la! I'm not hearing you talk about your sex life! La la la!"

"Stop acting like a baby because I'm being serious," Anthony snapped. "I know that you're seventeen now, and not that I'm condoning this, but it's your decision to take that step with him if you think your ready. I'm just asking that you guys be careful."

"Aww, come here, you big softie," I smiled as I hugged him tightly. "You're the best big brother a girl could ever have. This is just a talk I'd be having with dad or something. But I appreciate how concerned you are for me."

"It's what I do," Anthony smiled back.

I looked down the hallway and saw Pietro with the rest of the Brotherhood harassing Lance. "Ooh, there's Pietro. I'll see you guys later."

As I got closer I heard Lance say "So what if I am becoming an X-Man? You're dating one!"

"So, that's different," Pietro countered. "She never asked me to join them. Semina knows I hate them. She's not trying to change me into something I'm not. One of the reasons why I like her so much."

"Aww, how sweet," I said from behind them causing them to turn toward me. "I like Pietro just the way he is. I would never dream of changing him; I like bad boys. They make me feel...dangerous and sexy."

"You don't need me to make you sexy," Pietro said wrapping his arms around my waist. "You do that all on your own."

"True but you make me happy too," I said giving him a kiss.

"Ugh, can you two take your gagfest somewhere else?" Tabitha cringed. "It's too early for me to see you two swapping spit."

"Come on, Mina," Pietro said pulling me away from them. "Let's go somewhere more private."

"Bye guys!" I waved. We walked to our spot under the oak tree and sat on the soft grass instead of the hard bench.

"Why are you guys giving Lance so much grief?" I asked. "He's not doing this because he _wants_ to. He's doing this for Kitty. It's kind of romantic."

"No, romantic is taking your girlfriend for a moonlit picnic," Pietro said. "Not betraying your team for some chick."

"You never took me out for a picnic under the moonlight," I frowned.

"Not yet I haven't," Pietro winked.

Pietro kissed me once again and I fell into it without a struggle. Pietro leaned against the tree for support and shifted my position so that my face was directly in front of his and I didn't have to crane my neck out. Suddenly there was a very annoyingly familiar sound that I heard coming from my left: the sound of skateboard wheels scarping pavement.

"Ugh!" I groaned. "Evan's coming. We'll have to finish this later, I guess."

"I will kill Daniels and his lousy timing," Pietro muttered as he gave me a peck on the cheek and stalked away.

"Hey, I found you," Evan said. "They're serving breakfast burritos in the caf. Let's go!"

"Coming," I huffed as I reluctantly followed him.

* * *

"Come here, Sasha," I called out from the foyer. She came scampering down the stairs and leaped into my arms. "Wanna go for a walk, girl?"

A happy bark came my reply so I set her down and hooked a leash onto her pink and black collar. I was dressed in a sneakers, pair of shorts and a tank top to go out for a jog. My Danger Room session got cancelled so I figured this as an alternative way of exercising. I strapped a small book bag on my back that contained a bottle of water, an apple, my cell phone and a sweat rag while my iPod was in an armband around my arm and my X-Men communicator was around my wrist. Sasha and I made our way out of the gate of the institute and began our jog. I found myself lost in thought about Lance's switch over to our side. The guys hate that he's here, especially Scott. Lance isn't a bad guy, you know. He's just...misguided. I don't have a problem with him being here. I just wish Pietro was with him too. It's doubtful because Pietro hates everything X-Men related, except me of course.

I was lightly jogging with Sasha's leash wrapped around my hand when she yanked me in the opposite direction. For a little dog, she sure had a lot of force. Sasha ran into the park and began sniffing the ground. She must've found the scent she was looking for because she continued pulling me toward the gazebo where I found Pietro relaxing and reading a book. Sasha jumped onto his lap and he brightened up as he saw me.

"Hey, Semina," he greeted. "I thought you had a Danger Room session."

"I did but it got cancelled because Wolverine is now training Lance," I replied as I sat next to him.

"Oh, the traitor," Pietro scoffed angrily.

"Someones a little hostile," I said as I raised an eyebrow. "And particular reason why?"

"It's nothing," Pietro dismissed. "Just forget about it."

"Okay, it's your life," I complied. "So what are you doing in the park? And reading a book for that matter."

"I just needed some fresh air," Pietro replied. "And what makes you think I don't read?"

"You can't stay still for three seconds, let alone read a book," I chuckled.

"Have anything better for me to do in mind?" Pietro asked with a knowing twinkle in his eye.

"I know one thing," I smirked. I cupped Pietro's face in my hands as I kissed him sweetly. "Is this more interesting to you?"

"Better than this book," Pietro said throwing it behind his back and leaning in for more.

Our making out didn't even get good before my wrist started blinking.

"Sorry," I apologized as I pulled away. "I have to take this."

"Fine," Pietro huffed, obviously frazzled.

"Go for Tsunami," I said into the communicator.

"Semina, we need you to lead a training session with the new recruits," Scott said. "Lance needs to learn how to defend himself _without_ causing an earthquake."

"I'll be there in ten," I sighed as a I broke contact. 'What a cock blocker.'

"Do you really have to go?" Pietro whined.

"I don't want to but it's my job," I shrugged. I noticed his defeated expression and whispered. "How about I come over later? I just got six new flavors of lip gloss and I want you to guess each one. Does that sound okay to you?"

I felt Pietro's emotion turn very lustful and he responded "Sounds perfect."

I gave him one last kiss and picked up Sasha before going back to the mansion.

* * *

I walked to the garage after the session so I could drive over to the Brotherhood house. Armed with my lip gloss and breath spray, I was all ready to get going. What I didn't expect was the sight I saw when I walked into the garage. My body shook and my skin became cold as I let out a scream that could shatter glass two houses away. Everyone came running in and gasped at the sight of what lay before me. My car had been completely wrecked. The front bumper was hanging off, the hood dented, a couple of windows were shattered, an entire hubcap was missing the paint job was ruined and scratched and the car itself was completely covered in mud. I cautiously approached it and tried to open the banged in door only to have the door fall off the hinges and all four tires collapse.

I slowly turned toward everyone standing behind me and with rage in my eyes yelled "WHO DID THIS TO MY CAR!"

Some of the younger students flinched at the force of my voice while others looked at my car is disbelief.

"Do I have to repeat myself?" I screamed. "I want to know who wrecked my car!"

"I bet it was Alvers!" Scott exclaimed as he pointed an accusatory finger at Lance.

I walked up to Lance and even though he was taller than me I looked him in the eye as if to read if they were guilty or not. "He didn't do it. It wasn't him."

"How do you know?" Scott asked.

"Because Lance doesn't have a death wish," I said. "He knows not to touch my car. Let alone go for a drive it without my permission."

The professor finally wheeled in and looked at my car. "What happened here?"

"Apparently, professor, one of the new recruits decided to take my car out on a little joyride," I huffed. I glared at them and shouted "And once I find out who did this, the word hell will not begin to describe the training sessions I will put you through! Not only will I run them but I will happily have you face me as an opponent as well. ARE? WE? CLEAR?"

"CRYSTAL CLEAR!" they shouted back.

"I assure you that we'll get to the bottom of this, Semina," the professor reassured. "And I'll be more than happy to pay for repairs on your car the same way I did with Scott's car."

"Thank you, professor. I appreciate it," I sighed trying to calm myself down. I smoothed my hair down and straightened my shirt and said "Now, if you'll excuse me. I'm going to go meet up with my boyfriend. I'll be back later."

The recruits watched as I angrily walked away and Ray whistled and said "Sure glad I didn't do it."

"Me either," Roberto agreed.

"Semina is almost as scary as Wolverine when she's upset," Amara cringed.

* * *

Pietro opened up the door and his face twisted up into concern when he saw me crying. "Who, what happened to you?"

"Someone wrecked my car," I sniffed. "It's completely ruined."

"It's going to be okay," Pietro soothed as he hugged me. "You know I can take you to school while baldy fixes your car."

"How'd you know he was fixing it?" I asked.

"If he wasn't, you'd be ready to slice someones head off rather than be crying about it," Pietro pointed out.

"You know me a little too well," I chuckled as I wiped the tears away.

"That's my job," Pietro said as he kissed my forehead. "So did you bring 'em?"

I held up my purse and smiled in reply. I leaned close to his ear and whispered "I'll be in your room."

Pietro followed me up the stairs until Toad yelled "Pietro! I need your help!"

Pietro groaned and yelled back "With what?"

"There's a little problem here in the kitchen!" Toad replied. "I'm not going to say how it happened but there's smoke coming from the oven and it's Blob's fault!"

"It is not!" I heard Blob retort.

"Deal with it yourselves!" Pietro snapped. "I'm kind of preoccupied here!"

A high pitched girlish scream sounded from the kitchen followed by "AH! Someone put me out!"

"Go deal with it," I sighed. "You know where to find me."

I walked into Pietro's room while he tended to the idiots downstairs. I kicked my shoes off and plopped down on his bed. I breathed in the smell of the sheets and smiled at the scent of Pietro's cologne. I flipped on my stomach and curiously opened one of his nightstand drawers. I bit my lip to keep from bursting into laughter. In the drawer were hundreds of pictures of himself. Talk about conceited. I rifled through some of them but there was one that caught my attention. It was an old and worn picture of a young Pietro, Magneto and a young girl with long black hair and blue eyes similar to Pietro's.

'Who is this girl?' I silently mused. 'Pietro never mentioned having a sister. Or any other family besides Magneto for that matter. Come to think of it, he's never talked about his mother either.'

"Sorry about that," Pietro apologized as he entered the room. I quickly put the picture back in the drawer and closed it as his back was turned toward the door to close it.

"It's fine," I dismissed. "It's what happens when you have housemates."

"So about this lip gloss game?" Pietro questioned.

"Right," I said grabbing my bag. "It's pretty simple. Every time I put on a new flavor, I want you to guess each one every time I kiss you."

"Sounds fair enough," Pietro smirked.

"But there's a catch," I said going to his closet and pulling out a tie. "You have to be blindfolded."

"Ooh, sounds sexy," Pietro chuckled in a husky tone that made me shiver.

Pietro sat on his bed as I secured the tie around his eyes and waved my hands on front of his eyes to make sure he couldn't see. I pulled out my first tube, spread some on my lips and gave Pietro a kiss.

"Mmm, definitely pineapple," Pietro said.

"The first one is always easy," I said. "Let's step it up a bit."

I spread a second tube of gloss on my lips, kissed him and Pietro licked his lips before saying "Raspberry with Peaches."

"Right again," I said.

I retrieved a third tube and slathered it on. I kissed Pietro and he said "Hmm. This is different. But I'm gonna guess Pomegranate with...Blueberries?"

"You're pretty good at this," I admired. "How about this one?"

After putting on a fourth flavor and kissing him instead of guessing after I pulled away, Pietro pulled me back down for more kisses.

"What are you doing?" I asked. "There's still two more tubes."

"I know," Pietro said taking off the blindfold. "But I love Cotton Candy."

Soon after wiping my lips clean of any trace of lip gloss with his own, I parted my lips and our tongues began a fight for dominance. Pietro scooted backwards onto his bed bringing me with him. Our lips never separated as he lay down onto his pillow with me on top of him. This almost exactly like what happened on the boat except I'm on top of him and I'm not panicking or pulling away. This moment feels...right to me.

"Maybe I'm more ready than I thought I was," I whispered between kisses.

Without responding, I felt Pietro reach for my shirt and gently tug it off leaving me in my black and blue lace bra. His fingers slowly ran up my spine leaving my skin plastered in goosebumps. I shifted positions with him and did the same to him. Pietro placed small kisses on the crook of my neck and as I felt his fingers beginning to unbutton my jeans, the door flung open.

"Hey, 'Tro!" Toad yelled. "Blob started the fire again."

"No I didn't!" Blob exclaimed.

They stopped bickering long enough to look at us on the bed both halfway naked.

"AHH! GET OUT!" I screamed as I blushed and shut the door with my telekinesis. Suddenly feeling self conscious, I covered myself with my shirt and blushed even harder.

"I am going to kill them," Pietro growled through clenched teeth.

"Well isn't this wonderful," I said pulling my shirt back on. "This is the third time we've been interrupted in the past two days and I'm getting frustrated."

'Ugh! Talk about sexual tension,' I angrily thought.

"You're not the only one," Pietro sighed. "We could still... you know finish what we started. I could always lock the door."

"The mood's been ruined," I pouted. "It wouldn't have been special."

"Are you sure your not in the mood anymore?" Pietro asked and he sucked on my neck. "It'll be worth it in the end."

"What if they-" I began to question as Pietro silenced me with a kiss. He zoomed to the door, locked and continued kissing me. "There. Problem solved."

"I just don't think...," I weakly tried to fight back while trying to resist Pietro's lips. Giving up my futile efforts I fell back into our alone time. I slowly crept my hand up Pietro's abs to his chest when someone began banging on the door.

"Ignore them," Pietro said running a hand along my thigh.

The person knocked again and Pietro shouted "Go away! I'm busy!"

I shifted myself so that I was back on top of Pietro and in the midst of removing his shirt again, a small explosion blasted through the doorknob and Tabitha sauntered in. "Speedy, where is my hair gel? I know you took it."

"Can't you see we're in the middle of something?" Pietro yelled.

"The sooner I get my hair gel the quicker you guys can go back to humping like dogs in heat," Tabitha bellowed. "Where is it?"

"I don't wear hair gel," Pietro scowled. "My hair is naturally slicked back from my mutation. Go ask Blob. He probably used it on that Mohawk of his."

"Fine," Tabitha huffed as she left the room.

"You know what?' I said. "That is the last straw. We can't have alone time here with everyone barging in, we can't into the city because Wolverine is out shopping for motorcycle parts and we sure as hell can't go to the mansion. This is absolutely ridiculous! How can a girl to spend time alone with her boyfriend when there's nowhere in Bayville to go?"

"Then let's leave Bayville," Pietro suggested. "I'll just run and you can tell me when to stop when we get far enough away."

I pondered this thought for a second before smiling and saying "That just might work. I'm up for anything at this point."

I gathered my things and Pietro picked me up in his arms and we sped out of the house and down the street. Cars whizzed by, houses were a blur and all I heard was the sound of wind rushing through my ears. I sensed a large body of water coming up and yelled "Stop! STOP!"

Pietro stopped and he put me down and looked at the place I had chosen. There were a thick mass of trees that covered the area and Pietro looked at it in confusion.

"The forest?" he questioned. "Of all places you choose the forest?"

"It's much more than that," I said as I took his hand in mine and led him through the trees. The smell of fresh water filled my nostrils and I sighed at the pleasant scent. As we maneuvered deeper into the forest we came upon a river that had a cascading waterfall at the base of it. Since it was getting dark, the moonlight shone off the water making it glisten. Fireflies flew around and I looked up to see the perfect view of the moon and stars.

"Wow, it's more beautiful than I thought," I marveled.

"It is," Pietro agreed. He looked around and spotted something next to the waterfall. "Hey, is that a cabin?"

I squinted up at it and said "Let's go find out." I made a small wave and I stepped on to. I reached my hand out for him to follow me and he hesitantly took it. He stood next to me on the wave with wobbly knees. "Don't worry, Pietro. This is perfectly safe." I guided the wave toward the waterfall and closed my eyes in concentration. I put both hands into the water falling and quickly thrusted them forward reversing its flow. So instead of the water coming down, it was going up. I joined the wave with the flowing water and we were lifted up toward the cabin.

We stepped onto the grass and I gasped. Standing before us was a beautiful log cabin that looked like it's been untouched by a human in years. Pietro slowly approached the door and forced the door open. Despite being covered in dust, the inside was immaculately preserved. It had a fireplace, furniture, a bathroom and a bedroom with a king-sized bed. The cabin was unfamiliar yet cozy.

"It's a dump in here," Pietro coughed.

"Let's change that," I suggested.

"What do you mean?" Pietro asked.

"We could clean up the place, fix the door, add some modern things and call it our own secret spot," I excitedly said.

"Ugh, that sounds like hard work," Pietro groaned.

"Just think about it," I began. "I'm pretty sure nobody but us know about this place. Here we have privacy. There's no annoying housemates or people around to barge in on us doing whatever we're doing. It's completely secluded! So, what do you say? Help me fix it up. I know you want to have me all to yourself."

Pietro thought this through and reluctantly sighed and said "Fine."

"Yay!" I squealed as I gave him a kiss.

He kissed me back with full force but I pulled away and said "Nope, I'm not going to do this and get all hot and bothered." I laid down on the soft grass and patted a place next to me. "So instead, we're going to talk."

"I don't want to talk," Pietro defiantly countered.

"I was going to tell you about the new lingerie I just bought but if you don't want to hear about it, I can go back to the mansion," I shrugged.

"On-second-thought, i-change-my-mind!" Pietro quickly said. "Tell me all about it and don't skimp on the details."

The next day

"Oh, so it was you three going on joyrides," I sneered at Bobby, Jubilee and Sam.

"And you took the X-Jet last night?" Logan exclaimed. "What were you thinking?"

"And on top of that, you made Lance take the fall for it all!" Kitty huffed. "Now he's back with the Brotherhood!"

"If you three thought you were in trouble before, think again," I chuckled. " I hope you three enjoyed your freedom while it lasted because guess what? My car's almost done with repairs and I hope you love the smell of paint and oil because it needs a new paint job, interior detailing and since Bobby's so great with computer's, a new GPS system. "

My phone rang and smiled at the caller id that popped up. I gave one last look at the three culprits and said "Have fun on your three months of punishment."

"Hey, baby," I said into the phone.

"Hey yourself," Pietro said. "So are we still on for our mall date?"

"Sure, but you don't mind if I bring Kurt and LaToya do you?" I asked.

"I don't want fuzzball there!" Pietro whined.

"I'm trying to get them together, remember," I said. "So stop complaining."

"You owe me so much sugar for this," Pietro sighed.

"I'll see you in a bit, then," I said before I hung up the phone. "Hey Kurt with your newly found freedom, do you want to come to the mall with us?"

"Sure," Kurt agreed. "I've been dying to escape zhe mansion walls."

"Anything for my best friend," I said as I linked arms with him and exited the sub levels.

"Hey, Mina? Vhat's zhat?" Kurt asked indicating to the purple mark on the side of my neck. "Is zhat a hickey?"

"Shh! Not so loud," I laughed. "Logan might hear you!"

"Hear what?" Logan gruffly asked. "And is that what I think it is on your neck?"

"Oh, it's nothing," I quickly dismissed. "Bye Logan!"

(Kurt, 'port now if you value your life.)

We bamfed away leaving behind a cloud of sulfur and Logan who groaned and said "Teenagers."

A/N: Another chappie finished! So how'd you like this one? Hit the little review button and tell me! In the next one, things are gonna get chaotic, crazy and every other C word in the human language that describes a disaster. Here's a math related hint: _Picture=Mina-Pietro_ Decode that for yourself.


	23. Betrayal

A/N: Ever since I got a comment saying how Mina was supposedly invincible and how some people wanted to see her get beat in a fight, I've had the plot of this chapter stuck in my head. I'm so excited for this chappie! **WARNING: THERE'S BLOOD INVOLVED!** (Not very gruesome but it's not for the squeamish) ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution or any song used in this story, so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

Betrayal

Two Days Ago

_'I can't believe they're still together,' Evan growled. 'I though for sure they'd be apart after the thing with Misty. I need a solid plan to get them apart for good. But how do I do that?'_

_Evan leaned closer and caught a part of Mina and Pietro's conversation._

"_So, I fought Magneto a couple of days ago," Semina said._

"_Really? So he's still alive?" Pietro asked._

"_Yeah, he tried to kill me with a metal beam but he strangely let me go," she said. "Maybe he's getting soft on us."_

"_Yeah, so soft that I should tell him we're dating," Pietro joked._

"_Ha ha," Semina laughed. "Imagine if he did find out. I'm not sure who he'll kill first."_

"_The exact reason why we don't plan on telling him," Pietro pointed out._

_Semina kissed him and said "We couldn't do that anymore if he knew."_

_He kissed her back, ran his fingers through her hair and said "Or that."_

"_Let's just never let this get out," Semina said._

"_Agreed," Pietro replied as they kissed some more._

_'Hmm, this gives me an idea,' Evan thought as he snapped a picture of them kissing with his phone._

Present Day

"Why does this school have the most uniquely disgusting lunches in all of New York?" I asked as I wrinkled my nose at the monstrosity sitting on my tray before me.

The cafeteria ladies ran out of creative and edible foods to make, so they combined last weeks chicken nuggets put it in a bowl with rice and covered it with a greenish sauce. And thus the "Caribbean Chicken Rice Bowl" was created.

"Go ahead Kurt, take a bite," LaToya said. If she was asking Kurt to eat it then she had labeled it hazardous.

Kurt cautiously looked around the table at our curious faces and tentatively took a small spoonful and put it in his mouth. He chewed slowly before stopping.

"So, how is it?" Talisa asked.

Kurt began to give a reply before his face turned a sickly green. He clamped a hand over his mouth and made a rapid beeline for the bathroom. We all looked at each other before pushing our trays away.

"If Kurt can't eat this then it must be poisonous," Evan said.

Anthony shuddered and said "I don't even think this is food."

I stood up and proclaimed "Well, I'm going on an emergency McDonald's run. If you have money tell me what you want and I'll gladly get it for you."

They informed me of their choices and I quickly memorized them before going to my car. I parked it close to the cafeteria after I found out what was for lunch this morning. As I approached where I parked my car, I rustled around for my keys in my bag. When I found them I started to unlock my car but i dropped them when I looked at my precious Camaro.

In the cafeteria

"I hope Mina hurries before lunch is over," LaToya whined. "I'm starving!"

"Vhere does Mina need to hurry to?" Kurt asked as he returned with a less green face.

"She went to-" Kitty began until an earsplitting scream rang throughout the cafeteria.

"That was Semina's scream," Anthony said as he sprang from the table and headed toward the parking lot with the rest of the table and half the cafeteria following him in curiosity.

They found Semina on her knees in front of a metal structure that looked like one of those abstract metal sculptures. Except you could clearly make out tires, doors and headlights. Shocked gasps, whispering and an occasional smug laugh echoed through the crowd.

"Is that her car?" someone yelled from the crowd.

"Talk about a great prank," someone joked.

"What happened to your car?" Talisa asked in shocked.

"I don't know," I quietly said with silent tears running down my cheeks. I held the note that was attached to my car hidden from everyone else. I was in a daze and I didn't even notice that the class bell had rung.

"Okay, okay, there's nothing to see here," LaToya yelled at the crowd. "Move it along!"

"You heard her!" Anthony bellowed once he saw the crowd wasn't budging. They quickly dispersed leaving the X-Men, Mina's car and the Brotherhood who stayed at a distance.

"You should go too, Talisa," LaToya said. "You can't be late for that important physics test."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Talisa said before she scurried away. "I'll check on you later, Mina!"

"Who could have done this?" Kitty inquired.

Scott closely studied how carefully the metal was bent and twisted and exclaimed "I know who."

"Who?" Kurt asked.

"Magneto," Scott and I said at the same time. I balled up my fist and through clenched teeth said "I'm going to kill him."

"Semina, calm down," Jean soothed. "You're not killing anyone right now."

"Calm down?" I mocked. "That bastard keeps finding ways to piss me off and you tell me to calm down. I'll be calm once he stops breathing."

I angrily stormed away from them and once I rounded the corner out of their sight I had to place a hand on the wall to keep me steady. My breathing was shallow, my skin had turned clammy and pale and my vision was becoming blurry.

"Semina, I saw what happened," I heard Pietro say from somewhere I wasn't exactly sure because the room was spinning. "I don't know why my father would do that without a valid reason."

I whispered something quietly that Pietro said "What? Speak up."

I turned to him and he finally saw the fear and panic in my eyes. "Pietro, he knows about us."

I gave him the note that was attached to my car ad his eyes widened. The note read:

This is warning #1. Stay away from him.

-M

* * *

All I could think about for the rest of the day was that note. Even at cheerleading practice. At the urging and begging of Talisa I had rejoined the cheerleading team and they were glad to have me back. During practice my focus was so thrown that I almost fell off the top of the pyramid and would've broken something if Keith hadn't caught me. Coach Rodriguez said that since my car was found destroyed it was throwing me off so she sent me home early. So now here I sit, waiting for Anthony to come get me.

'What is Magneto gonna do now that he knows?' I silently mused. 'Maybe'll he'll torture me or even do something bad to Pietro! No, he wouldn't hurt his own son. At least I think he won't. I can't let that happen if he tries to. I will everything in my power to keep Pietro safe. So I need to tell Pietro that I'm in love with him...today.'

Pietro who saw me sitting with my head between my legs asked "Hey, do you need a lift?"

I looked up and quickly stammered "It's not the best-"

Pietro rolled his eyes and crashed his lips into mine. "I don't care if Magneto knows. He can't tell me who I can and can't date."

"You saw the note, I'm just a little worried," I honestly said.

"You of all people are worried?" Pietro questioned. "What happened to the tough, feisty and defiant girl I like so much."

"She's still here," I retorted.

"Then prove me wrong," Pietro said. "And let me take you to the brotherhood house and you can walk home from there."

"Fine," I huffed as he picked me. "But this is still a bad idea."

"Shut up," Pietro playfully said before speeding away. Seconds later, we arrived at the Brotherhood Boarding house and we sped up to Pietro's room.

"I see you're not going to let me leave that easily," I teased.

"Of course not," Pietro said before he kissed me. I sat in his lap while he plopped down onto his bed. "Because this is something I like too much to lose."

"Me either," I said. "We just...work well together."

'Okay, Semina, you can do this,' I thought. 'Just tell him!'

"Pietro, there's something important I need to tell you," I said as he kissed my neck.

"What is it?" he murmured as he continued kissing me. I pushed him away from and cupped his face with my hands. "What're doing?"

"Pietro, we've been dating for a while now and there's something I've been meaning to tell you," I began. "I need you to not freak out when I tell you. Okay?"

"Okay," Pietro nodded with a look of confusion.

I gave him a kiss that started off as a simple peck but grew more and more passionate with each second that passed. We broke apart and I looked him deep in the eye and said "Pietro, I-I love you."

Pietro tensed up but he didn't react so I kept going. "I've wanted to tell you this for a while now. The little things you do are what make me feel the way I feel. You accept me for me, you care about my safety and you always try to make me happy. I know me telling you this is a little sudden but I just needed to let you know because after reading that note I realized that my biggest fear in life is losing you. And I **refuse** to let Magneto or anyone else try to keep us apart because I'm in love with you. I have since we first kissed and I _always_ will."

Pietro looked at me with an expression I couldn't read.

"Aren't you going to say something?" I anxiously asked.

"Um, wow," Pietro choked out. "This is ,um, this is-oh boy."

"Is that all you want to say?" I questioned as I felt a squeeze on my heart.

"Well, what do you want me to say?" Pietro asked.

"That you do too," I said.

"Okay, me too," Pietro said.

"Really, Pietro?" I asked as I cocked my head to the side. "Just say 'I love you too'."

"But love is such a strong word," Pietro began. "I just can't tell you that right now."

My face fell. "So you mean to tell me that you don't love me?"

"I never said that," Pietro countered. "I do it's just that saying it isn't really my style."

"So telling someone that you love them isn't your style?" I angrily asked.

"Not really," Pietro shrugged.

"Well, now I feel like an idiot," I said as I fell onto his bed. "I just tell my boyfriend that I love him and he's too much of a wimp to say it back."

"I'm not a wimp," Pietro snapped.

"Then what is so hard about telling me you love me if that's really how you feel?" I asked.

"Because...,"Pietro drifted off.

"Because what?" I snapped. "You're afraid of your own feelings?"

"No," Pietro said.

"Because it'll make you less of a man?" I asked.

"No!" Pietro snapped.

"Oh, I know," I said getting hysterical. "It's because you hate having to care about girls because you see them as just things you have sex with!"

"It's because they disappear!" Pietro yelled as he grabbed my arms.

"What disappears?" I questioned.

"EVERYTHING!" Pietro said. "Everything that I have ever loved has disappeared because Magneto takes them from me. My freedom, my free will, even Wanda! If I admit that I love you, he'll just come and rip you away from me. And I'm not going to lose you, too! There? Are you happy? You got what you wanted. Now just leave!"

"But, Pietro," I began.

"GET OUT!" Pietro screamed.

Tears sprang into my eyes as I said "No! Because yelling at me won't change how either of us feel!"

"Right now all I feel is annoyance," Pietro said.

"Oh my god. Pietro Maximoff, you're the most stubborn boy I've ever met," I scoffed as I left his room.

"And you're the most pushy and persistent girl I've ever met, Semina Wilson," Pietro retorted.

"I am not!" I snapped.

"Yes you are!" Pietro exclaimed. "Because if you weren't, you wouldn't be pestering me about telling you how I feel. You already know so just leave it at that."

"I want to hear you say it," I cried out. "I need you to be entirely sure that it was the right thing to tell you."

"What if I'm not sure?" Pietro asked as he crossed his arms.

"Then there's no reason for me to be standing here," I told him. "So just answer this simple question: do you or do you not love me?"

"You know I do!" Pietro yelled.

"Then just say it!" I screamed. "It's just three simple words."

"Fine! Semina, I l-lo," Pietro said as he struggled to get the words out.

"You know what don't even bother anymore," I sobbed. "Just forget I ever said it because you're making question if I really do love you or not!"

I slammed the door on my way out making the Brotherhood flinch.

"Okay, can someone please explain what I did wrong?" Pietro questioned.

"I'm guessing when she told you she loved you she had this twinkle in her eye," Tabitha said.

"Yeah and she was crying a little too," Pietro said.

Tabitha reached over and smacked Pietro on the back of the head. "You idiot! She finally tells how much she loves you and you can't even say it back! Do you know how much she's hurting right now?"

"I'm guessing a lot," Pietro shrugged.

"Yes! Imagine someone kicking you in the crotch a hundred times every two seconds then multiply it by a hundred," Tabitha said. "That's how badly she feels. Are you trying to make her hate you?"

"No," Pietro said. "I really do love her."

"Then tell her that, not me," Tabitha said.

* * *

After texting Anthony to tell him I found a way home, I walked down the road wiping away the never ending tears.

'I can't believe he's too proud to say he loves me,' I thought. 'It makes me wonder if he really does if he can't say it directly to me.'

I approached a gas station and walked into to buy a bottle of water. After purchasing it and continuing down the road adjacent to the woods, nothing prepared me for what happened next. I didn't even notice the person that was rapidly approaching me until I felt someone very large tackle me by my waist and through a tree. After getting slammed into a tree trunk I weakly stood up and blinked a couple of times to focus on my attacker.

"Sabertooth?" I questioned as my vision returned to normal. I quickly jumped up and asked "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Delivering a message from the boss," Sabertooth growled. "He doesn't like you being so lovey dovey with that son of his."

"And what does he plan to do about it?" I asked as I took a defensive stance ready to fight if need be. "If he wants me to stay away from Pietro it's going to take much more than a giant cat bear thing to stop me."

"We'll see about that," Sabertooth snarled as he charged for me.

I leaped out of the way but with lighting quick reflexes he grabbed my ankle and slammed me back to the ground. I looked to my left and spotted the security camera from the gas station focused on us. Sabertooth brought his fist down but I put my hand in front of my face. The camera would see a girl trying to defend herself but to the trained eye you'd see a mutant creating a thick fog from the water in the air. This way to make sure the camera didn't catch me using my powers and to disorient my opponent.

Sabertooth's hand hit broken twigs and moss instead of my head. This temporary distraction enabled me to drain water from the surrounding foliage and freeze Sabertooth to a tree. Seeing this as a fit time for me to run I did until I heard the ice break. I ran faster but it was no use. Sabertooth was faster than I was and managed to get in front of me and deliver a punch straight into my face sending me flying backwards into another tree. I touched my face and felt the warmth and slickness of my own blood. I focused on Sabertooth's mind but was puzzled when I couldn't get a clear reading on it. Next thing I knew, I was being roughly grabbed by my hair and being tossed high into another tree. As I hit the ground with a hard 'thump' I struggled to get up. Sabertooth's foot swung and kicked me in the stomach. The air was knocked out of me and I heard some of my ribs crack as I spit up the coppery acidic taste of blood. As I lay on the ground, trying not to slip into unconsciousness from the pain I was experiencing, I heard what sounded like the snap of a tree branch.

"Batter up!" Sabertooth yelled in a mocking tone.

Before I could crawl away, the heavy pine tree branch struck my left leg with brutal force and I screamed in excruciating pain as I felt and heard the bones in my leg break.

"Had enough yet, little girl?" Sabertooth growled as he came face to face with me.

I looked in his face a spit my blood ridden saliva on his cheek.

"You little bitch!" Sabertooth yelled as he picked me up by my throat and began to squeeze it. "Go ahead. _Beg_. Beg for your life like the weakling you are."

My vision was getting splotchy as I desperately tried to claw out of his iron grasp. My legs were dangling limply off the ground and were of no use to me. I tried sending a psionic blast at him but became shocked when nothing happened.

"Your little telepathic tricks don't work on me," he said as he began to squeeze harder.

I felt my struggles become weaker as Sabertooth kept his tight constrict around my slender neck. The bones in my neck were now slowly bending and breaking as he hardened his iron grip. My eyes were fading between reality and darkness and the only thing I could think about was Pietro. The pathway providing me air was almost completely cut off and I knew the end was pretty damn near.

"Sabertooth, that's enough!" a voice yelled from above us. "I don't want you to kill her."

"But-" Sabertooth began to protest.

"Release her!" the voice belonging to none other than Magneto commanded.

I felt Sabertooth's grip leave my throat as I fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. I clutched my throat as I wheezed for air.

"This is warning number two, Semina," Magneto stated. "I told you to stay away from my son but you didn't listen like the stubborn child you are. If you continue to see Pietro, I'll be back to _personally_ ensure that you never see his face or anyone else's for that matter. Do you understand me?"

I weakly nodded my head in reply.

"Good, glad we could work this out," Magneto said. "But just to make sure that you remember what I told you,...Sabertooth?"

Sabertooth approached me and as I lay on the moist ground face down dug his sharp claws into my upper back. My hands dug into the soft dirt as he dragged them downward toward the base of my spine ripping flesh, tissues, and muscles in the process. Left on my back was his claw mark and blood that was pouring out of it. I couldn't even scream in pain because I was struggling to breath and choking on blood. I grit my teeth to keep me from passing out.

"I'm glad I got that picture from that anonymous tip," Magneto said. "He did me a huge favor. Come on, Sabertooth. Our work here is done."

I watched as two metal orbs descended from the sky and take Magneto and Sabertooth away.

'I'm gonna die out here. I can't move and I'm losing so much blood,' I panicked. 'In. Too. Much. Pain'

'Semina, you can do this,' the voice in my head said. 'Just focus on your breathing and crawl back to the Brotherhood house. It's not that far so you'll make it in time for Pietro to run you to the mansion.'

'But Magneto said-' I protested.

'Just go unless you want to die,' the voice snapped. 'And refuse for to let _us_ die. Just breathe and crawl.'

'Just breathe and crawl,' I chanted in my head. 'Just breathe and crawl.'

Moving was taking tremendous amounts of energy and was causing me much more pain but if I stayed where I was, I'd bleed to death without medical attention. Pain shot through my body every time I dragged myself down the road and I left a trail of blood behind me. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, I pulled myself up to the Brotherhood porch and weakly lifted my hand and knocked with as much force as I could. Thank God someone heard it. Lance opened the door and was horrified at the sight of my mangled body.

"Help. Me," I managed to choke out. Lance carefully pulled me into the house and shut the door.

"PIETRO!" Lance yelled with urgency in his voice. "GET DOWN HERE NOW!"

"What?" Pietro asked. Pietro looked down at me and froze. "What-happened? Who-did-this-to-you?"

"Look at the claw marks on her back," Toad pointed out.

"Sabertooth, the boys all said at once.

"Did Magneto send him after you?" Lance asked.

I nodded weakly. Pietro's face twisted up into anger and I saw as he struggled to contain it.

"Stop with the Q&A!" Tabitha yelled. "She's losing too much blood and she needs medical attention right now!"

"Let's take her to the hospital," Fred suggested.

"Are you crazy?" Pietro screeched. "We can't take her there! She's a mutant! Once they find out, they'll never treat her!"

"Then where do we take her, yo?" Toad asked.

"Take her to the mansion," Tabitha offered. "Professor Xavier have a state of the art medical bay."

"They'll think that we did this to her," Lance exclaimed.

"Would you rather let her die then?" Tabitha asked.

"I'll go alone," Pietro said. "I'll get her there faster."

Pietro carefully turned Mina over and as he delicately picked her up he noticed her scrunch her face up in pain. He suspected she had broken ribs among other internal injuries. Pietro quickly sped out of the door and toward the institute.

'Come on, Mina,' Pietro thought. 'Hold on just a little while longer.'

"Pietro burst in through the door and yelled "PROFESSOR XAVIER! ANTHONY! LATOYA! SOMEONE HELP!"

Everyone came running in on the shocking site. Pietro, standing in the middle of the foyer carrying a half conscious and wounded Semina, covered in her blood that was now heavily dripping on the marble floor. It was so quiet from the shock that you could clearly hear each drop of blood drip on the floor. A loud clap of thunder sounded outside and a lightning bolt flashed illuminating the room. The perfect weather to match the mood in the mansion.

"What the hell did you do to her?" Logan snarled, breaking the stunned silence, as he popped out his claws and stalked toward him. "I swear to God I will kill you if I find out you did this to her!"

"It wasn't me! Sabertooth did it!" Pietro snapped. "Just help her! She won't stop bleeding!"

"Wolverine, we can question him later," Beast said. "Jean, I'm going to need you to levitate Semina down the med bay to avoid making her injuries worse. Scott bring me a crash cart, Storm go prepare a bed and Anthony go bring me my scrubs from my room. Let's move people! NOW!"

Everyone scrambled to do what needed to be done as Jean and Beast proceeded downstairs. Pietro tried to follow them but Logan blocked him and said "Don't you think you've caused enough trouble?"

"I'm not leaving her side," Pietro said as he ran past Logan to the med bay.

"Why that little-" Logan growled.

"Logan, leave the boy alone," Professor X said. "He did the right thing."

Logan looked at the professor before headed toward the garage.

"Where are you going?" Professor X asked.

"To find Sabertooth," he replied as he proceeded toward his motorcycle.

In the med bay

After changing into his scrubs and gloves, Beast immediately got to work on Semina. He first covered her back in gauze to stop the bleeding before laying her on a bed and hooking her up to an I.V drip and heart monitor. Beast used a special X-Ray machine to examine her internal injuries.

"Seven broken ribs, one of her lungs is bruised and her kidney is punctured," Beast yelled. "There's way too much internal bleeding to operate."

"So what are you saying?" Pietro asked in fear of the answer.

Beast sighed heavily and replied "There's not much I can do to save her."

"You're a fucking doctor!"Pietro yelled as he lunged toward him. "What the hell do you mean you can't save her!"

"Pietro, clam down," Storm soothed.

"No I won't calm down!" Pietro hysterically yelled. "You can't let her die!"

"Anthony, get him out of here!" Beast commanded.

Anthony restrained Pietro's arms and began dragging him out of the room while he kicked and struggled. "No, no let me go!"

"You're making it hard for him to focus," Anthony countered. "If there is a chance to save her Beast needs to concentrate."

"No! Semina! You can't die! I LOVE you!" Pietro screamed as tears rolled down his cheeks for the first time in years. He dropped his head and whispered "Please don't die, I love you!"

Even though I could barely stay awake, the entire world froze when I heard Pietro shout that he loved me. 'H-he loves me?'

(Pietro, tell Beast to go ahead and cut me open) I telepathically told him. (Then tell him to pour water in me.)

"Beast, wait!" Pietro yelled. "Semina says to cut her open and pour water in her!"

"What?" Beast questioned. "Do you know how insanely dangerous and risky that is?"

"Just do it!" Pietro shrieked. "You're wasting time. She telepathically told me to tell you, so hurry up!"

"Fine," Beast agreed as he grabbed his scalpel. Time was running out so there was no time for anesthetics. He carefully sliced a line across Semina's torso to reveal her organs. Storm handed him a cup of water and he carefully poured it in her.

I shakily reached my hand toward my torso and held it above it. I spread the water around my organs and it began to glow as I felt the punctures on my kidney close. I kept the healing water glowing as I closed the line Beast had sliced across my torso leaving behind normal skin.

Beast checked my vitals again before exclaiming "Her internal injuries have been completely healed!"

If I didn't feel myself slipping away, I'd be happy enough to smile but doing this pretty much drained my last ounce of life. My body went completely limp and my eyes slowly closed shut.

Just then everyone in the room stood in shock as they heard an eerily even tone that no one expected to hear.

"She's flatlining!" Beast yelled as he dove straight for the crash cart.

He charged up the metal plates and pressed them onto her chest. Her body jumped up and the flatline tone steadily sounded. Beast repeated the action with a higher voltage this time only to experience the same outcome. He tried it one last time on the highest it would go without killing her and breathed a sigh of relief once the beep of her heart started.

Beast ran a few more tests and did a couple of more X-rays to assess all the damage. He took a needle and surgical screws and got to work on fixing Semina's leg and back the best he could. Hours later, he then proceeded out of the room to the crowd of mutants anxiously awaiting the news on Semina's condition.

"How is she?" LaToya anxiously asked with tear brimmed eyes. She looked at Beast's blood soaked scrubs and resisted the urge to cry again.

"She's stable...for now," Beast said. "She flatlined but I manged to get her heart pumping again. Semina has been heavily sedated to suppress the pain but she's not in good shape."

"What are the extent of her injuries?" Professor X asked.

"Seven broken ribs, a bruised lung, a couple of face and body bruises, the claw marks on her back and her left leg has been terribly fractured," Beast replied. "Her internal bleeding would have killed her if they hadn't been taken care of."

"How did you do it?" Kitty asked. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying so hard.

"In order to fix her internal injuries I had to surgically cut her open so she could heal herself," Beast replied as he frowned.

"If that's a good thing, then why are you not smiling?" Evan asked. He not only looked more worried than anyone in the room but there was guilt eating away at him from the inside.

"Using her powers in the condition she's in has substantially weakened her," Beast said. "It's possible that her body can shut down at any minute."

"How did this happen?" Jean desperately asked. Her red hair was standing out in various directions from her nervously running her fingers through it.

"I'll tell you how," a voice said from behind them Logan appeared from the door in tattered and bloody clothing. "Magneto found out about his son dating a girl who refused to join his twisted cause and sent Sabertooth after her."

Mixed reactions of shock and confusion rippled throughout the room.

"They've been dating?" Scott exclaimed.

"For how long?" Jean asked.

"Yeah, apparently for months now," Logan replied.

"How did they manage to keep this a secret?" Storm asked.

"I don't know the specifics," Logan said . "All I know is that _**he's**_ the reason this happened."

Logan pointed accusingly at Pietro who countered "This was Magneto's doing! Why would I want my girlfriend to get hurt?"

"Logan, Pietro isn't to blame here," Professor X stepped in. "He has genuine feelings for Semina and is sincere in his concerns for her safety. But I fear that their relationship is putting her in danger. Pietro I think it may be for the best that you two end what you have."

"What if I don't?" Pietro retorted.

"Then your father will repeatedly come after her and I know that isn't what you want for her," Professor X said. "With her best interests in mind, I need you two stay away from each other from now on."

"But-" Pietro began.

"But nothing," Logan barked. "You heard the man. You two are finished."

"No, we're not," Pietro defiantly said as he grew more and more angry. "I'm not gonna let some bald cripple and his short-tempered bodyguard tell me to stay away from someone I care about!"

Logan carefully stalked toward him and roughly forced his head in the direction of the glass wall that was in front of the med bay. "Look at her! Do you really want this to happen again? Do you want Semina to have to be on the edge of death and suffering in a medical bed?"

"No, of course not," Pietro said.

"Then do us all a favor and leave her alone!" Logan yelled. "Because Magneto will keep doing this. Or worse, he'll end up killing her and I know you don't want to see Semina in a casket because you can't listen to when someone tells you to do something that will benefit the people you care about!"

Pietro looked the painful expression on everyone's faces before taking one last look of remorse at Mina and reluctantly speeding away.

"Do ya think she'll be alright?" Rogue sniffled as her goth makeup ran down her face in watery streaks. Seeing someone she was actually close to halfway dead broke even her tough exterior.

"Absolutely," Beast replied. "Semina's a fighter. I've seen her shrug off her worst injuries like a scrape to the knee but this one might prove difficult to bounce back from."

"Do you think we could go in and see her?" LaToya tearfully asked.

"If she wakes up later then yes but I don't think anyone should see the condition she's in now," Beast said. "I think it's best if we all clear out of here and try to get some sleep. I assure you all that I'm certain Semina will recover from this."

"I'm not going anywhere," LaToya refused as she defiantly sat in one of the chairs in the waiting area. "I'll sleep here if I need to!"

"I'm not leaving either," Anthony agreed as he sat next to her. Kurt eventually followed suit and sat on the floor next to them.

"Fine. You three alone can stay," Professor X said. "But only you three. I want everyone else to follow Hank's advice and try to get some sleep."

Some of them began to retort in disagreement but he held up his hand and continued by saying "And I don't want to hear any protests, understood?

"Yes, professor," they replied as they headed upstairs to the mansion level. Professor X and Beast followed and once they were out of earshot Professor X asked "Be honest with me Hank. How long do you think she'll be back to the way she was?"

Beast sighed and said "Months, maybe. And that's for the injuries to her left leg alone. The claw marks on her back ripped through the dermis of her skin and damaged some important muscles in her back. I can almost guarantee that she'll never resume gymnastics or cheerleading ever again."

"I just can't understand why Magnus would do something so horrible to the girl," Professor X sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose on frustration. "She's just a teenager for Christ's sake!"

"Well, Magneto isn't one for mercy," Beast said. "You of all people know that."

"I should have seen this coming," Professor X said as he hit the arm of his wheelchair. "I knew Semina was hiding the identity of her boyfriend for one reason or another other but I respected her privacy and didn't go prying inside of her head for answers."

"Charles, this isn't your fault," Beast reassured. "No one could have know what Magneto was planning to do."

Professor X sighed heavily and asked "How long will she be stuck in the med bay? These injuries will interfere with her school work as well as other things."

"Her leg should start healing in a few weeks but then she'll have to go through physical therapy to help her get used to walking again," Beast replied. "Other than her back and ribs, Semina's cuts and bruises should heal up fairly quickly. But she won't be seeing the halls of Bayville High how for a while."

"When do you anticipate she's going to wake up?" Professor X inquired.

"I have a special device that I use to monitor Semina's health," Beast told him as he took a rectangular device that looked like an old remote. It had a screen with a set of buttons underneath it. The screen displayed Semina's heartbeat and blood pressure as well as the many other machines she was connected to. "If there's any immediate change in her condition the device will alert me. With the medication I have her on, she could wake up in a few hours or a few days."

"We'll just have to wait and see," the professor said as he wheeled away.

* * *

The next morning, Ororo was in the living room sipping a cup of calming chamomile tea while everyone else enjoyed their breakfast. The T.V flashed various news stories, weather and sports. But it was being droned out by all the chattering going on in the dining room. Ororo brought the steaming hot liquid to her mouth but the teacup dropped to the floor and shattered when Semina's face flashed across the screen.

"Professor!" Ororo yelled. "You may want to come see this!"

Everyone from the dining room piled into the living room behind the professor. Ororo grabbed the remote and turned the volume as high as it could go.

_'I'm here live at Simmons gas station where just last night a young girl was attacked by what looked to be a wild bear,' the reporter said. 'Roll the footage again, Bill.'_

The scene changed as a video recording of Semina being violently slammed into a tree by a blurry figure and falling to the ground. Not long after she fell, Semina covered her face and a fog appeared out of nowhere. It lasted only a couple seconds but the image burned into everyone at the institute's brain.

_'Before the mysterious fog appeared, the girl in the video was positively identified as Semina Wilson, a recently transferred high school junior at Bayville High. An anonymous tip led police here but when they arrived on the scene, Wilson's body was nowhere to be found. With last night's lightning storm, all traces of DNA have been washed clean from the scene. If you have any tips on Semina Wilson's whereabouts, call-'_

Logan shut the T.V off as murmuring and panicked questions broke out across the room.

"They got her on video?" Anthony questioned.

"What if they found out she's a mutant?" LaToya cried out.

"How did they even I.D her?" Kitty asked.

The professor sighed and said "Everyone calm down. I know this is a bit of shock but I assure I will take care of everything."

Two Days Later

A blur zoomed through the halls of the X-Mansion and into the med bay. Pietro sat in the chair next to Semina's bed and sadly look at her. There was his beautiful girlfriend battered and laying in a bed covered in gauze with a swollen face and bruised body. She was hooked up to an I.V drip, a heart monitor, an iron lung because she can't breathe on her own with a bruised lung and various tubes ran through her carries liquids in and out of her body. A thick cast was placed on her leg to set the injury and her face looked so peaceful that she could easily pass for dead. If not for the steady beat of her heart, Pietro would've guessed the same. The more he looked at her, the more furious he became at the person responsible for this.

'How could father do this to her?' Pietro angrily thought as he clenched the crisp white sheets on the bed. 'This is my fault! I should have protected her from him! I should have known this would happen!'

"How could I have been so STUPID!" Pietro whispered through clenched teeth. While Pietro was angrily babbling to himself, he didn't notice that Semina had slowly fluttered her left eye open. Her right eye had swollen shut from Sabertooth's punch. This was the first time she woke up since she came into the med bay.

"Pietro? Why are you here?" I hoarsely asked. "They'll be angry if they find out you were here."

"I had to risk it," Pietro replied as he brushed a strand of hair from my face. I winced at his touch because even the slightest touch hurt me. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," I dismissed. "The pain will go away eventually."

"Not just for that," Pietro said. "I'm sorry for putting you in danger. If I had know that bastard was going to do this to you, I would've thrown myself in front of Sabertooth to protect you."

"It's not your fault," I said.

"Yes it is!" Pietro cried out. "You're in this bed because of me! I'm the reason why you're suffering!"

"Pietro, I told you it's fine," I sighed. "This was bound to happen."

"But I could have prevented it," Pietro sighed. "And I'm going to make sure I'll never be the cause of your suffering ever again." He placed a soft kiss on my split lip and I felt him slip what I assumed was an envelope into my hand.

"I'm sorry," Pietro whispered. He pulled away, took one last look at me before speeding away.

"Pietro! Come back!" I croaked out. I looked down at the envelope in my hand and with unsteady hands ripped it open. I immediately recognized Pietro's neat handwriting as I read the letter to myself.

'No, he can't do this!' I thought. 'Why would he? I can't believe it! This must be some kind of mistake.'

I reread the letter several times before something inside of me just snapped. "NOOOOOOO!" Tears fell from my eyes and my chest righted and my breathing became shallow. An unbearable pain hit my head like a ton of bricks and I clutched my head. I could hear and smell one of the machines hooked up to me overload and fizzle out. My heart rate increased rapidly, my blood pressure shot up to dangerous levels and I began to see white spots in my eyes. The monitors around me started turning red flashing the words 'Danger: Critical Condition' and beeping rapidly. The noises sounded distant and before I knew it, I slipped into darkness. My arm fell limp at my side with the letter still tightly clutched in my hand.

Beast was in Cerebro with Professor X scanning the Bayville area for any sightings of Sabertooth or Magneto when a loud alarm rang from his coat pocket. He hurriedly took the monitoring device out of his pocket and his eyes widened as he saw the state of Semina's condition.

"Son of a-" Beast muttered before he ran full speed toward the medical bay. He found Semina laying just as he left last night but something was different. Her heart was still beating but the machine that was hooked up to monitor he brain waves was fried. Beast found a new machine of the same kind and grimaced when he saw there were no signs of any brain activity.

* * *

When the kids of the institute came home they all directly proceeded to the med bay to check on Semina.

"Do you think she's woken up by now?" Kitty asked. "It's been two days."

"I don't know, Kitty," Scott shrugged. "You saw how badly she got hurt."

"Maybe Beast will have some good news about her," Jean piped in trying to brighten the dull mood.

As soon as they arrived they found Beast sitting on a chair with his head between his hands.

"Hey, Beast," Kurt greeted. "Any news on Semina?"

Beast looked up with the grimmest expression on his face. One that just screamed something terrible had happened.

"Beast, what happened to Semina?" LaToya fearfully asked.

"Well, there's good news and bad news," Beast said as his voice began to crack on the word bad. "The good news is Semina woke up briefly earlier today."

"She did?" Evan exclaimed. "That's great! What's the bad news?"

"Moments later, her body shut down," Beast replied. "All brain activity has ceased and left her in a comatose state."

"S-she's in a coma?" Scott asked. "For how long?"

"I don't know," Beast shrugged. "It could be days, months maybe even years."

"I thought she was recovering?" Rogue questioned. "How did her body shut down all of a sudden?"

"The shut down was brought on by a traumatic mental blow," Professor X jumped in as he wheeled in from the room. "I just finished scanning her mind and I found out that she's _mentally_ shut her self down. However, I couldn't do anything more than scan her brain to make sure there was no permanent damage. Semina's placed rather strong metal shields that are keeping both machines and telepaths out of her mind. I can't break these walls because there is a very likely chance I could damage both her telepathy and brain functions. The only way she'll come out of it is when she comes to terms with what happened."

"What happened to make her do that?" Jean asked.

Professor X held up a slightly crumpled, white envelope. "Beast checked the security cameras and saw that Semina had a visitor when she woke up."

"It vas Pietro vasn't it," Kurt said.

"Yes," Professor X nodded. "The letter he left her was the cause of her mental shut down."

"What's it say?" Anthony asked. "I'm her brother and LaToya's her sister. We deserve to know."

Professor X sighed and handed him the letter which he read aloud.

_'Semina, I can't bear the thought or sight of you in this hospital bed suffering all because of your feelings for me. No one will ever change how I feel about you but I think it's best for you if I'm no longer involved with you. Magneto hates us being together and his hatred for you will just grow stronger if we're together. I don't want to end it because I love you. But it's my love for you that's making me decide to do this. I hate the thought of being apart from you but I have to put your best interests into consideration. I guess this is goodbye then.'_

_-Pietro Maximoff_

"He broke up with her to save her life," Kitty said.

"Yes but Semina isn't ready to let him go," Professor X said.

"When she figures out that this is for the best, she'll come out of it," Beast said.

"Then she'll never come out of it," LaToya said as her voice trembled in fear. "Semina loves Pietro more than life itself. We all know that. She's put up with all of his crap and put herself in the way of danger just to be with him. She can't give him up. Not after all that she's been through."

"While that is true, she needs to realize that the longer it takes for her to come to terms with it the longer she'll be in this self induced coma," the professor responded.

Anthony punched the metal wall leaving a sizable dent in it before yelling "This isn't fair! My little sister is in a coma because the same man who murdered my brother hates her dating his arrogant son. How far is this maniac willing to go to ruin our lives!"

"Anthony, try to contain your anger," Professor X soothed.

"No, I will not! I don't mean any disrespect to you but this is the last straw," Anthony said. "Magneto has already taken one of my siblings and I refuse to let him take another!"

Anthony headed back up the mansion level leaving everyone else behind.

Later that Day

Evan sat in the chair next to Semina's bedside feeling more guilty than when she was first put there. He glanced at Semina's still figure and lamented at the thought of what he did.

'This wasn't how this was supposed to happen!" Evan thought as he gritted his teeth. 'She was never supposed to get hurt! I just wanted Maximoff to suffer. I would have never done it if I had known this would be the outcome!'

The steady beat of Semina's heart filled the silence in the room and with each beat, Evan felt tortured by what he had done just like the man from _"The Tell-Tale Heart"_.

'If anyone ever found out how this all happened, they'll never trust me again," Evan thought. 'No one can ever find out about this.'

Beast entered through the door and greeted a now startled Evan by saying "Oh, hello there, Evan. I didn't know you were in here. I just came to check on how fast Semina's injuries are healing."

"Oh, I'll leave then," Evan quickly said as he sprang up from the chair and bolted out of the door. Beast looked at Evan's speedy exit with suspicion.

* * *

It had been almost a week since Semina went into a coma and Anthony and LaToya were starting to get worried.

"What if she doesn't come out of it?" LaToya asked as she stroked her sisters limp hand.

"Don't talk like that!" Anthony yelled making LaToya jump in surprise. "In a couple of days she'll wake up and Mina will be back to her old self in no time. I guarantee it. If she doesn't wake up on her the we can get the professor to-"

"To do what? He already said that he can't get into her mind without damaging something," LaToya cried. "And if he can't, who can?"

"Someone she trusts completely," the professor said as he wheeled in.

"What?" Anthony questioned.

"I think there may be another way to get Semina out of her comatose state," Professor X said. "If she willingly lets someone in through her mental walls that person might be able to coerce her into snapping out of her coma. Unfortunately there is a slight hindrance in this."

"What is it?" LaToya asked.

Professor X sighed and said "The person that has to enter Semina's mind must be a telepath."

"A little bit more than a slight hindrance," Anthony scowled. "If she won't let you in I know for sure she won't let Jean in! There are no more available telepaths to use!"

"Yes and because of this, Semina must find a way out herself," the professor replied.

Inside Semina's mind

In the furthest recesses of my mind, I sat huddled in a dark corner silently crying. I haven't moved from this spot since I read Pietro's letter. I have nothing left to make me happy anymore. Magneto just tore me away from the best thing that has happened to me in years and this has caused me to shut everyone and everything out. I looked up from my fetal position at the huge mental wall I had erected. It looked like an ordinary wall; made of steel, miles high and with no point of entry. It was mere child's play to make a door to let someone in my mind but I refused to let _anyone_ else enter into the most private place I know just to leave me damaged and depressed. The only two people I want to be around me right now are the two people who are the furthest away. One I can never be with again and one that I haven't been able to see in years.

Loud banging on my mental wall and a muffled voice snapped my out of my sorrow. My eyes widened as I saw dent marks forming on the wall and I rushed toward the wall to reinforce it. I put my hands on the wall and pushed on it to keep it from being penetrated.

"Go away!" I yelled. "I just want to be left alone!"

"Semina! Let me in! I don't have much time!" a voice called out to me.

As I instantly dropped to my knees, I brought the wall down with me. Was I hallucinating? Am I dreaming? Or have I finally have a complete mental breakdown? I stared up in bewilderment at the women stand in front of me. I took each feature carefully: her ebony colored skin, jet black shoulder length hair, demure nose and soft kind brown eyes. It was pretty accurate for an astral projection.

"How did you-? Is this really happening?" I asked as my eyes filled with tears. I jumped into her arms and sobbed on her shoulder. "Aunt Viv! I've been so worried! I thought you were gone forever! Where have you been all these years?"

"There's no time to explain," she replied. "I need you to listen and listen carefully. You need to stop laying in your mind, feeling sorry for yourself. There are some very dangerous things that are going on right now and you need to be out there stopping them before it gets worse."

"What do you mean? Is someone hurting you?" I questioned. "Just tell me where you are and I swear that I'll get out of my hospital bed right now and come get you."

"There's no time!" Aunt Viv yelled. "Semina, I need you to be strong because I don't have much time left before he..."

Before Aunt Viv even got the words out her image began fading and I desperately tried to cling to her.

"No! Don't go! Tell me where you are!" I hysterically screamed. "I can save you! Aunt Viv! COME BACK!"

I let out a scream of frustration as the black world around me shattered like a slab of glass.

Back in the med bay

After Anthony and LaToya left, Professor X stayed in the room while Beast did his daily tests. A rapid beeping from Semina's heart monitor puzzled him but what shocked him even more was the beeping coming from Semina's brain monitor.

"Look at that!" Beast exclaimed. "Her brain activity has started up again. Oh, no. It keeps increasing! This much power could overload the-"

Just then, the machine exploded exactly at the same time Semina screamed and sat up clutching her head.

I looked around the room at a smoking device, Beast and Professor X with looks of shock on their faces and all the machines I was hooked up to. I disregarded them all as I grabbed a handful of wires and started pulling them out of me. I carefully swung my legs, both good and injured, over the side of the bed and began limping toward cerebro. I tried my best to not feel the searing pain coming from my leg but it was hard to not just keel over and cry from it.

"Semina! Get back here now!" Beast yelled after me. "You're in no shape to be leaving your bed!"

I ignored him as I stumbled into cerebro. The professor had taught me how to use cerebro seeing as how I was a more powerful telepath than Jean. I put the helmet on my head and searched for recent power uses in New York. An abundant amount of green blips came up on screen but all of them were _new_ mutant signatures except one. However, this signature wasn't a clear reading because which ever mutant that had just used their powers was being blocked. Like an outside interference with their powers. I hit the keyboard on cerebro and slammed the helmet down. Tears of anger, fear and frustration leaked from my eyes as I stood to return to bed, defeated and broken inside. I took two steps before my leg gave out and I crashed to the ground. I clutched my ribs and cradled my leg as never ending pain shot through them. Eventually Beast ran in and carried me back to the med bay where I was reconnected to my pain medication which instantly dulled the pain in my body but not in my heart.

* * *

News of me waking up spread through the mansion like wildfire. But each relieved and joyful visit was a blur. The one thing I do remember was everyone was crying when they visited me, even Rogue and Logan. Oh, and that Kitty had told me that the gossip at school was that I was left unrecognizable from my injuries, I lost an arm or the most ridiculous that I was faking the entire thing just to get on the news. I could care less about what people say about me.

I just wanted to hear something from Pietro. He had sent no card, no flowers no anything that signified that there was still a chance for us. We really are over. But I swear on everything that is good in the world that I will make Magneto pay for all he's done to me. Which means one thing: I'm going to kill Magneto.

A/N: And that's the end of this painful chappie. Some of my readers are gonna hate me for doing that to Semina! Don't worry, she's hit rock bottom. There's nothing worse I can do now right? WRONG! Keep reading the story to find out the things that will push Semina over the edge. Oh and don't forget to review this chappie!


	24. Closer Than Ever

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! There weren't a lot but they meant plenty to me. Ugh, don't hate me for what I'm gonna do in this chappie. I was torn between doing this or not but I decided to do it anyway. Anyway, ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution or any song used in this story, so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

Closer Than Ever

It was Sunday morning and I sat on my bed surrounded by the girls of the institute who were keeping me company while I was on bed rest. Beast said I could leave the med bay but I was temporarily confined to the comfort of my fluffy bed. Six weeks after the whole Sabertooth thing, I was now able to take off my cast _and_ go back to school on Monday. For the time being, Beast was in charge of my classes so I wouldn't fall behind. I still have to walk with crutches though and I had a leg brace in place of a cast. I was allowed to leave the house but I was refusing because I had no where to go. And the girls were begging to me go out dress shopping with them for the Sadie Hawkins Dance on Saturday.

"Come on, Mina," LaToya urged. "You have to leave the house!"

"No!" I snapped. "I'm not going dress shopping for a dance I'm not going to."

"Not going?" Kitty screeched. "Why not?"

"What's the point of going to a dance if I can't go with Pietro," I sighed as I looked down at the pillow under my leg that suddenly became interesting. "Besides, I can't dance with crutches and a leg brace."

"But a couple of weeks ago you were so excited!" Amara pointed out.

"That was before this happened," I said gesturing toward my body.

The bruises had healed up leaving unnoticeable scars but the claw marks on my back were still wrapped in gauze. It turns out that since I was in a coma for a week, the marks began to heal themselves which meant I couldn't heal them with water. I can just picture your confused face so let me clarify. A cut that's being taken care of by the body can't be healed with my healing water because the wound has to be fresh and untouched. Now the only thing I can do is pray that the scars aren't too bad. But with my line of luck, I doubt it.

"You shouldn't let that stop you," Jean said. "I'm sure you can still have a great time."

"I'm not going," I defiantly stated.

"But-" Kitty began to plead before I cast her a look and said "And that's final. Don't try to convince me otherwise. Can we just change the subject please. All this dance junk is making me more depressed than I already am."

"Okay, then, are you excited about getting back to school this week?" Jean asked.

"Honestly, yes and no," I sighed. "Beast is a great teacher but I'm excited and nervous to be back at school. I haven't seen everyone in so long and I'm gonna run into Pietro all the time and-"

"Mina, you're gonna be fine," Rogue reassured. "If I can survive that hell hole, you can too."

"Yeah, and you probably won't even see Pietro that often," Amara added.

"I have four classes with him," I monotonously said. "Not to mention lunch."

"Okay, I stand corrected," Amara sighed.

I fiddled with the locket around my neck and sadly said "I just really want him back. Our relationship was going so great and, and..."

By now the tears had started again and I cried "It's not fair that we have to be apart! How can Magneto be so and evil and take away the one boy I love more than anything? Why can't we just be together and nobody have a problem with it? People need to learn to just deal with the way things are meant to be."

"If life were that easy, we wouldn't have to hide the fact that we're mutants," LaToya said as she patted my shoulder.

Scott peaked his head through the door and said "Hate to interrupt but we have a training session in ten minutes."

I began to get off my bed but Scott sighed and said "Semina, you know you can't train in your condition."

"Can't I just work on my telekinesis a little?" I begged.

"No! You can't risk getting more hurt when you're not completely healed," Scott scolded. "Stay in bed and rest. As for the rest of you the Danger Room awaits."

I huffed and leaned back into my set of fluffy pillows. "This is so unfair!"

"Sorry, Mina," Scott shrugged. "Life isn't fair."

As soon as he closed the door, I began lifting my lamp off of it's place on my desk.

"DROP IT, SEMINA!" Scott yelled from down the hallway.

I floated the lamp back to it's place and said "Jeez! You'd think the guy's telepathic!"

* * *

Unease settled in my stomach as Ororo pulled up to Bayville High. I haven't seen the inside of these halls in a long time.

I let out a nervous breath and asked "Do I really have to go? I mean Beast could still teach me."

"Come on, Mina," Kurt urged as he pouted. "Everybody's missed you!"

"Like who?" I asked.

"Classmates, zhe cheerleaders, me," Kurt said. "Ve haven't been able to hang out in so long! You're always in your room and you rarely come downstairs. Come on, you have to go back."

"Grr! I hate how you can so easily convince to do something I don't want to do," I said fighting to keep my pout from turning into a smile. "But if you want me in school so bad, I'll go."

"Yes!" Kurt explianed as he tightly hugged me. I winced in pain and he pulled back and quickly apologized. "Sorry, I forgot about your ribs."

"It's fine," I choked out as I took one of the pain pills Beast prescribed to me. "They'll be back to normal in no time. Mind getting the door?"

"Sure," Kurt said as he got out of the X-Van and opened the door. I carefully shifted toward the door and put my crutches on the ground before I put my legs out. As I began making my way toward the entrance I couldn't help but notice the stares and whispers around me.

"Whatever you have to say about me, you can say it to my face," I hissed as I addressed the crowd. No one spoke out which made me grin and say "That's what I thought."

I entered the building and the same thing happened. I sighed and tried my best to ignore them as I made my way toward my locker. The rest of the X-Men stood there waiting for me.

"Good Morning, Mina," Jean greeted with a smile.

I gave a smile back but it quickly turned into a frown as I looked at the locker next to mine. It belonged to Pietro. I sighed and put in the combo to my locker. As soon as I opened it, hundreds of cards and letters came pouring out. The students around me looked on in awe. I picked one up and read it. My heart swelled up as I read it to the X-Men 'Just because we're apart doesn't mean I'll stop caring. Get well soon, Pietro.'

"He did all of this?" Scott asked in shock.

"This isn't anything like him," Evan grunted.

"Hey, look in your locker, there's something else," Jean said as she pulled out a big bear in a doctor's outfit. There was a little name tag on it that said 'Dr. Maximoff'.

"Aww, that is so adorable," Kitty gushed.

Jean passed it to me and I held it up against my chest as the scent of his cologne tickled my nose. Just then, Misty appeared and completely killed my happiness.

"Aww, what a sickly sweet sight," Misty sneered. "All that wasted effort on someone who doesn't deserve it."

"It's nice to see you too, Misty," I said as I gave her a plastic smile. "I've been gone for almost two months and I half expected you to be a little nicer. But to my surprise, you're still the same vicious bitch I didn't miss. Now if you'll excuse me, I have class in a little while."

I turned away from her and started making my way toward my first period class when she yelled "I bet you didn't expect Pietro to be over you so quickly either! I heard he's been quite the busy bee while you were in critical condition. Looks like you were just another quickie girlfriend to him."

I stopped in my tracks before clutching the bear tighter and disappearing around the corner.

In Auto Shop

Mr. Hackney and the rest of the auto shop kids were happy to have me back. I guess they missed having one of the few girls in the class around. One thing puzzled me though, the Brotherhood was there but Pietro wasn't.

After Lance gave me an awkward welcome back hug, I said "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I missed you guys."

"It's been boring two months without you," Lance said.

"You've grown on us, yo," toad added.

"And we missed your cooking," Fred smiled.

"Aww, you guys," I sighed. "So, um, where's Pietro? I haven't seen him since I got here. Is he here?"

"Uh, he's around," Lance nervously said as he scratched the back of his head.

"So why isn't he in class?" I pried further.

"He, uh, transferred out," Toad said.

"Oh, okay," I shrugged. "I'll just see him in Trig then."

"He transferred out of that too," Fred added.

"Then I'll see him in English," I stated.

"Semina, he's changed his entire schedule around," Lance sighed. "He switched out of all the classes he has with you so you two don't make any contact with each other."

My heart sank. "Why would he do that?'

"Well, he had a run in with Magneto and he said something to Pietro that made him agree to never speak to you again," Lance told me. "He said it's more beneficial to you than him and that he really wants you to get what Magneto has to offer you."

"What Magneto is _offering_ me?" I yelled.

Lance guided me out of the garage and away from the curious stares of our classmates and said "Keep your voice down!"

"I don't want anything from the bastard who did this to me!" I seethed. "What could he possibly have that I want?"

"Only Pietro knows what it is," Lance said. "If I knew I would tell you but..."

"Tell me where Pietro is?" I demanded.

"I can't," Lance sighed.

"Lance, please just tell me what class he has," I begged.

Semina, for your own good, you need to forget about Pietro until this all blows over," Lance suggested.

"I will _never_ forget about him," I huffed. "I just can't."

During Lunch

I couldn't stay in the cafeteria with all the stares I was receiving so I was making my way toward my locker to retrieve a book and find a nice shady tree to mope under. It turns out Lance was right. Pietro really did switch out of all our classes together so I haven't seen him all day. I opened up my locker and sighed wistfully as I looked at the pictures of me and Pietro. I'm internally debating whether I want to take them down or not. I rifled through my locker, looking for a book when I accidentally tipped over a stack of class workbooks that tumbled over and fell on my injured leg. I cried out in pain and instinctively reached down to cradle my leg, completely forgetting that I was balanced on a pair of crutches. I began to fall over and was dreading the painful impact that could damage my ribs again but it never came. I felt a pair of strong arms catch me and put me back on my crutches. I opened my eyes and looked around to find no one there. The books on the floor had been neatly stacked back into my locker as well. And the air was of the cologne I've come to love smelling.

* * *

Tuesday afternoon, I made my way toward my locker to get my AP Chemistry book out of it. I had a test coming up on Friday so I needed to study as much as I could. I held my head down as I maneuvered around the halls so I didn't even notice who was by the lockers until I heard his locker close. Pietro turned but froze when he saw me. I stood frozen as well because I haven't seen him in so long. Our eyes looked deeply in one another's as if we were communicating with each other. I finally began getting closer toward him and before I knew it I was just inches away from him.

"Hi," Pietro," I said as my heart raced with happiness and nervousness.

"H-hi," he choked out. "Uh, I should go."

"No, please don't," I begged as I grabbed his arm. "I haven't seen you in months and I was getting worried."

"Well, you saw me," Pietro said as he roughly shrugged off my hand. "Now why don't you just go home."

"Whoa, why are you getting so angry?" I asked. "I haven't done anything!"

"Why do you care?" Pietro snapped. "You should stop being so concerned with me all the time. My life isn't your business anymore."

"Where is all this coming from?" I asked as tears brimmed in my eyes. "You break up with me in a letter then you stuff my locker with cards saying get well. I can't understand you."

"You don't need to!" Pietro shouted. "Why can't you just do what's best for you and just leave me alone. We can't be together so stop trying to talk to me!"

"No! I'm not going to let Magneto win!" I yelled. "I don't care if he knows we're together! You shouldn't either! I would rather let him kill me than keep us apart!"

"Don't say stuff like that," Pietro said. "You don't mean it."

"It's true," I said. "And I do mean it! I love you, Pietro! No amount of physical torture will ever change that!"

"Don't you understand?" Pietro yelled as his body shook with rage. "My father _will_ kill you! I'm trying my hardest to keep you alive but you won't stay away from me!"

"I can protect myself!" I yelled back. "I'm not some helpless little girl! Pietro, you can yell at me all you want but I'm not going to stay away from you!"

"Why do you have to be so stubborn?" Pietro groaned. "Look I'm doing this for your own good."

"Oh here we go with that bullshit again," I snapped. "Ever since you broke up with me that's what everyone keeps saying! Why does everyone keep telling me what's best for me? What about what _I_ think is best for me? I just want to be with you again."

"Well, you can't," Pietro said as he turned his back from me. "I just can't take the risk."

"Really, Pietro?" I asked. "You can't honestly say that you don't miss us being together. Can you?"

I turned Pietro around and looked him deep in his blue eyes before leaning in to kiss him. Before our lips could touch, Pietro pushed himself away from me.

"NO! I'm not gonna do this," Pietro exclaimed. "Stop trying to save what can't be salvaged!"

"But Pietro," I began as I stroked his cheek. "How can you-"

"Damn it, Semina! JUST. STAY. AWAY. FROM. ME!" Pietro shouted before he slapped my hand away and took off.

I held myself up against the locker as I struggled to keep from collapsing. I never thought that I couldn't have something I really wanted but I guess Scott was right. Life really isn't fair.

* * *

The rest of the week had gone by in a blur. All I could think about was how Pietro stopped me from falling on Monday and our fight on Tuesday so before I knew it, it was Saturday morning. The girls were all in there rooms primping, triple checking their outfits or out getting their hair done. I guess everyone except me really was going to the Sadie Hawkins dance. Even Rogue was going! I had no time to wallow in sadness because Professor X had just sent me a telepathic message telling me to go to the med bay.

"You wanted to see me, professor?" I asked as I walked into the med bay where I found him along with Beast, Ororo, Logan and Forge.

"Yes, come in Semina," he said. "I believe Forge has something to show you."

Forge pulled out a black case and opened it up to reveal a metal leg brace.

"It's a leg brace," I plainly said.

"Not just any leg brace," Forge told me. "It's been specially modified to enable you to utilize your fractured leg. I've installed wires and sensors inside of it that can help you walk without the aid of crutches and with it doing all the work you'll feel no pain whatsoever."

"Wow," was all I could say.

"Go on, give it a try," Forge urged.

I skeptically looked at it before reluctantly taking it. I sat on the edge of one of the beds, slipped off my other leg brace and put on the metal one. I carefully put of my feet on the ground and fearfully took a step forward with my injured leg. I felt no pain shoot through my leg as I took a couple of more steps around the room.

"This is incredible!" I exclaimed. "This means I can actually walk without having to haul those stupid crutches around. I can finally get back to my training and-"

"Who slow down there, sprinkler," Logan interrupted. "You still can't train. Not just yet."

"But I thought that this was why Forge built it," I quietly said.

"No, no, you misunderstood why we had Forge make it," Ororo said. "We had it made so you can go to the dance tonight."

"That's what this is about?" I questioned. "I already said I didn't want to go!"

"But we thought the only reason you didn't want to go was because you couldn't dance," Ororo said. "At least that's what the girls told me."

"No, the reason I don't want to go is because I no longer have a boyfriend to go with!" I tearfully said. "Pietro was the only reason I was looking forward to this dance and now there's no point in going. I'm just going to lock myself in my room and mope about the fact that Magneto took him away from me just like he did with Andre."

With the help of the leg brace I jogged out of the med bay bay and up to my room. Once I got there I laid down on the bed and cried into my stuffed bear, Dr. Maximoff. This week was absolutely terrible and I'd be all alone while everyone else was at the dance. It's times like this I wish I was a normal human without superpowers.

Pain shot through my ribs and I took another tiny white pill from its bottle. Beast said only to take it every four hours but I just take it when the pain gets to be too much. It's a good thing my ribs will be healed soon because I hate taking pills. It makes me feel like I have a horrible illness or something. As the pain began to numb, I laid on my back and stared up at the ceiling.

'I wonder who asked Pietro to the dance,' I cryptically thought. 'Probably every girl in school. I really have to right to be jealous if he goes with another girl right? Eh, it doesn't matter. Of course I'll be jealous if there's another girl dancing in his arms. Dancing in my spot.'

A knock at my door brought me out of my thoughts.

"I don't wanna talk right now, Ororo!" I shouted.

Ororo entered anyway and said "But I feel that we must. You know, like a little bit of female bonding."

"There's nothing I want to talk about," I pouted.

"Are you sure?" Ororo asked. "I think that something might have happened with you and Pietro earlier this week that you really want to get off of your chest."

Ororo hit that one right on the mark which made me sigh and ask "How did you know?"

"Because this came for you on Wednesday," Ororo said as she took out a tiny box. "I found it just outside the mansion gates. I think it's Pietro's way of apologizing for something he did."

I took the box and hesitantly opened it. It was one of those charms that had the two halves of a heart. My half said 'Together'. I could only imagine that his half said 'Forever'.

"He left this for me?" I asked. "Even with all the things he's done, this is _way_ too sweet for him to do."

"I guess you've managed to change him for the better," Ororo offered.

"Please, I haven't changed anything," I dismissed. "He's still the same selfish, conceited arrogant jerk I've grown to love."

"Then maybe he does these things because you are special to him," Ororo said. "If you say that he is still a jerk then that must mean that he loves you as much as you love him."

"Maybe," I shyly said as I avoided her gaze. Suddenly, an idea popped into my head. "Maybe I _should_ go to that dance. There no use sitting around here just wasting away."

My excitement died down as I remembered "Oh, wait. I don't have a dress. Or a ticket for that matter."

Ororo said "Yes you do," before she left the room. A moment later she came back with a ticket and a dress in a black zipper bag.

"Are you serious?" I exclaimed. "Where'd you even get these?"

"Well Kitty bought you a ticket just in case you changed your mind," Ororo explained. "And I made the dress myself."

"Have you and the girls been planning all of this in some anticipation that I might just go?' I asked.

Ororo smiled and replied "Guilty as charged."

I ran up to her and gave her a hug and kiss on the cheek. "Thank you."

"It was my pleasure," Ororo said. "Now you will have to hurry up if you intend on making it there just in time for it to begin."

"Right," I agreed. "Can you help me get dressed? I need someone to help take off this gauze too. Beast said that all the bleeding has stopped and that I should take it off when I feel necessary."

"Are you sure about that?" Ororo asked. "The scars may be a little much to look at."

"I can handle it," I said as I breathed out an anxious breath.

Ororo help me get undressed and I felt the gauze stick to my back as she carefully peeled it off. After she removed it all I walked over to the mirror and paled. The claw marks had scarred over leaving puffy brownish-purple marks that were as obvious as a red and white target.

"Oh. My. God," Ororo whispered.

"No, it's fine," I said tearing my eyes away from the mirror. "They don't hurt anymore. Can we just finish helping me get ready before I change my mind?"

"O-of course," Ororo stuttered.

We put on my dress which ironically happened to be a strapless black and white polka dotted tutu dress that showed the claw marks. I just put a black cardigan over it to prevent anyone from seeing it. I did my make up and Ororo put my hair up in an elegant bun that left a few strands of hair dangling over my eyes. I carefully put the metal leg brace back on and slipped on a pair of ballet flats. I normally would wear heels but I couldn't given my circumstances. I looked at myself and the mirror and smiled. I hadn't looked this pretty in months. I mostly just wore sweats ever since my tragic run in with Sabertooth.

"You look beautiful, Semina," Ororo said as she gave me a warm hug. Why can't she be my mother instead? "Now let's go before you miss out on too much."

* * *

I walked down the empty halls hearing both the thumping of the speakers and my heart. I grew more nervous and anxious with each step.

'Maybe this wasn't the best idea,' I thought as I finally reached the gym doors. 'But for some reason there's something pulling me toward this dance. Or someone.'

I pushed the double doors and hesitantly walked inside. I hadn't even gotten halfway through the mass of kids before the whispers started again. Biting my lip and nervously rubbing my arm, I felt my face start to get hot with all the stares. I looked around the room before feeling self-conscious and quickly heading back toward the exit. Someone grabbed my arm before I could leave.

"You're here, so you're staying," LaToya said. She was dressed in a pastel orange dress that complimented her skin tone and she had her hair done in skinny curls. Standing next to her was her date for the evening...Kurt.

"I-I can't," I said as I tried to leave again.

"Please Mina," Kurt pleaded. "Can't you stay for one song?"

"I really shouldn't have come in the first place," I told them. "Ororo convinced me and-"

"Would you stay if I said that there was shrimp at the buffet table?" Kurt asked.

My eyes lit up but I played it off my saying "So?"

"And there's a chocolate fountain," they both said.

"Okay, I'm sold," I caved. "But I'm only staying for the food."

"BTW, sis, where are your crutches?" LaToya inquired.

"Long story. Tell you later..." I drifted off as I saw the food table.

"Semina! You came!" Kitty loudly squealed in my ear. "You look so pretty."

"Yes I did and thank you," I said as I eyed the shrimp. I turned my head and saw Lance with her. "Hi, Lance."

"Hey, Mina," Lance greeted. "You look better than the last time I saw you."

Lance noticed my startled expression and quickly said "Because the last time I saw you, you were covered in blood and bruises...and I should stop talking."

"You're a wise boy, Lance," I smiled. My smile faded when I asked "Did the rest of the Brotherhood come too?"

"Tabby, Toad and Fred are here but I haven't seen Pie- er uh, him, since I got here," Lance said.

"Oh, okay," I said slightly disappointed. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom. H-have fun you two."

I hurried toward the bathroom before they could respond. This metal brace is really helping me get used to walking like a normal person again. While I made my way through the crowd, I scanned the gym and saw Scott dancing with Taryn, Anthony and Talisa sharing chocolate strawberries, Tabitha looking crazy in some poofy pink dress while Fred and Toad looked embarrassed and Jean with a scowl on her face because Duncan wasn't even paying attention to her. I made my way into the hallway and took a couple deep soothing breath.

"Wow, Mina, you're here," Rogue said as she and Risty emerged from the bathroom.

"Yup, I'm here and I'm dateless," I groaned.

"Join the club," Risty said. "We three might be alone for a long time."

"Thanks," I wryly said.

"But honestly, Semina, are you okay?" Risty asked. "I saw on the news about you getting attacked by a bear and all."

"T-the news?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow. I looked at Rogue who's eyes said it all. "Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Just some sore ribs, this leg brace and a couple of nasty scars."

"Where'd you get that brace from anywhere?" Rogue asked.

"Forge," I said.

"And how are you holding up emotionally?" Risty asked. "With the break up, I mean."

"O-okay, I guess," I sighed as we reentered the gym. "Pietro's been avoiding me a lot."

"Well, he can't avoid you any longer," Rogue said. "There he is right there."

I looked at Pietro and my jaw dropped in disbelief. There was Pietro, who looked really cute in his brown suit jacket, dress pants and white collared shirt with the first few buttons down, with four girls hanging off of his arms. And one of those girls was the blonde monster herself.

Pietro was feeling pretty damn smug right now. He had walked into the dance with four of the hottest girls on campus and every guy seemed jealous. The fast paced techno music had just switched into a slow rock song, which just happened to be 'Tonight, I Love You,' by The Latency. Pietro felt a strange twinge of pain course through his heart and realized that this was their song. This was his and _Semina's_ song.

He shook of the past memories that tried to resurface and asked "So which one of you ladies wants to slow dance with me?"

They all squealed and begged for the chance and while Pietro looked around the gym at the jealous male glares, something caught his eyes that made his mind go blank. Standing by the door with Rogue and Risty was Semina, whom he thought at this moment looked more beautiful than every other girl in the gym right now.

One of the girls snapped at him and said "Pietro, are you even paying attention?"

Pietro was forced to tear his eyes away from his ex-girlfriend and unconsciously said "Of course I am, Semina." Pietro's eyes widened as he caught his mistake.

"SEMINA?" the girl shrieked before angrily huffing and storming away. Pietro let her go because, hey, it was just one girl and there are three more here. However, he kept sneaking glances at Semina. He saw how uncomfortable she was but how gorgeous she looked in her dress. Her face had little traces of bruises and her skin seemed to glow under the gym lights. Pietro tried his hardest to suppress the urge to have her in his arms.

"Pietro why do keep glancing over your shoulder?" another girl asked.

"Yeah, we're over here," Misty said as she veered his head toward them.

"Yeah, but there's something better over there," Pietro said as he stopped fighting his feelings and walked toward Semina. "H-hi, Mina. Y-you look beautiful. Would you do this handsome man the honor of dancing with me?"

"Y-you're talking to me," I said in surprise before stubbornness kicked in. "I thought you had to stay away from me."

"Well, I'm making an exception tonight," Pietro said until he saw his usual arrogance wasn't fazing her. "Please, Semina. I'm not gonna beg you. It's just one dance. What do we have to lose?"

I sighed, took his hand and said "Nothing at this point."

Pietro led me to the dance floor and wrapped me in his arms all while being mindful of my back. I guess he remembered but then again how could he forget? The feeling of being back in his arms made me feel safe and at ease. It reminds me how much I miss him and our song playing in the background isn't helping either. To keep from crying, I gripped him tighter.

"You okay?" he asked with concern in his voice. "You're not in pain are you?"

"Yes, I am," I said as my voice began to crack. "I can't be in your arms without remembering us. I'm sorry, I have to go get some punch or something."

I broke away from him and sprinted toward the refreshments. I picked up a punch cup and downed it in two large gulps. I crushed the cup in my hand and let out a breath as I tried to regain some of my composure. Moments later I felt a cold splash on the back of my cardigan and shrieked. I whipped my head around to see all four girls that Pietro came with.

"That's what you get," one of them said.

"Yeah, you took Pietro from us," another said.

"And we have no idea what he sees in you," the third one added.

"I'm surprised you're even here in the first place," Misty hissed. "I thought you'd stay at home to keep from hiding your 'injuries'. I don't see a scratch on you!"

"I bet she made up the entire story," the second girl said.

"Come on, Semina," Misty urged. "Let's see those scars and bruises."

"Fine!" I yelled in anger. I was so tired of being chewed out by these four ho's that I tore off my now soaked cardigan. "You wanted to see them? LOOK AT THEM!"

I shoved past them and heard the gasps and screams at the sight of my claw marks. I reached the exit but before I left I shouted "There you saw them! You _all_ saw them! It's hard enough having to look at them everyday and knowing they'll never heal but you all are just adding insult to injury with all the stares, rumors and whispers! Take a good long look at them because I can almost guarantee that you'll never see me back here! Now I want everyone to just LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!"

I shoved the double doors open and marched out of the gym. The cold air of the night sent chills over my body and the wind tickled across my scars.

"Semina, wait up!" Pietro called out as he ran after me.

"Leave me alone!" I barked at him. "You're supposed to be staying away from me anyway. What would your _father_ think?"

"I don't really care right now," Pietro said. "I just need to know that you're okay."

My anger rose as I shouted "Why should you care? Huh? After you broke up with me I went into a coma for a week. And even after I woke up, you never came to visit or-"

"I couldn't put you in anymore danger than you already were!" Pietro snapped. "Why can't you get that through your thick and stubborn skull?"

"Because, you told me you loved me and you never came back!" I screamed as I finally broke into hysterical sobs. "I waited and waited and waited but you never showed up! And you could have at least broke up with me in person! That would have at least saved me from my mental breakdown. As if my mind wasn't messed up enough! Now I have to add a shattered heart to match my shattered psyche."

"Just stop it!" Pietro bellowed. " Do you think for one second that I actually wanted to break up with you? You cannot keep blaming me for something I had no control over! Even though I look like him, I will never be Magneto so stop lashing out at me in place of him!"

"That's not what I'm doing," I scoffed.

"Yes it is," Pietro said as he stepped closer to me. My anger began to melt away as the scent of his cologne invaded my nostrils. It's amazing how calming it is. I cleared my head of all anger and tried to think clearly for a moment. On Tuesday, Pietro said that Magneto had something to offer me and I need to know what it is or was.

"Look, Pietro," I began. "We need to go somewhere private to talk because there are some things we need to tell each other."

"Yes there is," he agreed. "How about we go to our secret spot?"

"That's out of Bayville," I exclaimed. "I do have a curfew."

"I have super speed," Pietro reminded me. "I'll get you home in time to train or do whatever you X-Geeks do."

"Fine," I said as I rolled my eyes.

At the secret spot

The cool, wet air calmed me as I sat next to Pietro on the couch of our cabin. After we cleaned and fixed it up, we brought in a new table, some pictures and even bought new silk sheets for the king-sized bed.

"We're here," Pietro said. "Now talk."

"Okay," I said. "Pietro I want to know what Magneto is offering me to stay away from you. And I want you to not beat around the bush and be 100% honest with me. Is it money? Power enhancements? Resurrecting my dead brother?"

Pietro sighed deeply before looking me in the eye and saying "Your aunt."

"What?" I asked as I felt the world around me freeze.

"Magneto is offering you your aunt," Pietro repeated. "He says that he knows where to find her and that he'll tell you once he knows that we're apart for good."

"Oh my God," I whispered. "She's not dead. I thought that what happened in my head really was a hallucination. After all these years..." I looked at Pietro with desperate eyes and said "He told you where she was right? You can help me find her!"

"I'm sorry, Semina," Pietro apologized. "He didn't tell me anything. I swear it. I didn't even know you had an aunt until he told me. It's not like you ever mentioned her."

"Well how could I?" I snapped. "What was I supposed to tell you? That the only adult I know that actually gives a rat's ass about me disappeared years ago and that no one has been able to find her? It's a little too personal if you ask me. And _you_ never mentioned that you had a sister either!"

"Who told you I had a sister?" Pietro demanded.

"I saw the picture in your drawer Pietro," I admitted. "What happened to her?"

"That's a little too personal to tell," Pietro said using my own words against me.

"I can understand that you wanna keep that to yourself," I shrugged. "Talking about what happened in the past brings back the pain that goes along with it."

"Ya got that right," Pietro quietly agreed. "It's too hard to talk about."

Suddenly an idea hit me. "What if we don't have to talk about it? What if we can just see the things we want to tell each other?"

"That sounds impossible," Pietro said. "You can't get into my head and I'm not a telepath."

"You don't have to be," I said. "There's something I know of that can do just that."

"What is is?" Pietro curiously asked.

"A telepathic link," I explained. "The link can be shared with only two people and they can go into the others mind. They'll be mentally bonded to each other. It takes a powerful telepath to do it but it's extremely risky."

"How so?" Pietro questioned.

"There's a _slight_ chance that it can't be broken if it gets too strong," I said. "And if another telepath tries to break it, well, let's just say that the words 'searing mental pain' is an understatement."

"Then there is no way in hell I'm doing that," Pietro defiantly said.

"Come on, Pietro," I said. "Think about it this way, with our minds linked, there's the _one_ way Magneto can't separate us. And on top of that won't it feel good to finally defy your father after all he's put us through?"

Pietro sat there for what seemed like forever weighing the proposition. "Fine, let's do it," he finally said surprising the hell outta me.

"Y-you actually wanna do it?" I asked with a look of bewilderment on my face. I really thought I had to convince him further. "I'm warning you now that I'll be able to hear what you think, see your entire past and know your deepest secrets, right?"

"The whole link thing sounds like a thrill," Pietro shrugged. "What's life without a little danger?"

"Pietro, are you high right now?" I asked. "Have you been drinking lately? Do you have a fever? I just never once imagined you would-"

Pietro pulled me closer to him on the couch and kissed me softly all in one swift motion. I haven't felt his lips on mine since we broke up. It was...intoxicating.

"Just do it," Pietro urged. "Before I come to my senses and realize that this is a stupidly terrible idea."

"Okay, are you ready?" I asked. He nodded and I put my hands on the side of his head. "I want you to try to slow down your thoughts to let me in okay? Focus on nothing else but that and I'll start the process."

I closed my eyes and entered the Pietro's mind. I saw that his thoughts were gradually getting slower but they were wavering so I had to do this quickly. I made my way to the central part of his brain and focusing on merging it with mine. His mind was less resistant than I thought it would be which made the process easier but with his thoughts speeding back up, I was running out of time. I squeezed my eyes tighter as I struggled to finish the link. Our minds slowly began to melt into one and just in time too because I was approaching my mental limit. Establishing a link may sound easy but it's one of the hardest things a telepath can do. If Pietro didn't openly trust me it wouldn't have worked at all. Once the bonding process was complete I withdrew myself from his mind and collapsed on the couch next to him, exhausted.

"Did it work?" Pietro asked.

"See for yourself," I panted as I thought of the time I was eight and won a gold medal at one of my gymnastics meet.

"Whoa, did I just see what you were thinking?" he asked.

"Yeah," I agreed. "The link is up and running."

I suddenly saw Pietro's memory of him discovering he was a mutant for the first time.

"Aww, you were so cute," I breathlessly said. "What happened to you now?"

Pietro playfully hit me in the arm and I smiled.

'It's just like old times,' I thought.

(I missed the way we were,) Pietro said as he caught my thought.

(I did too), I agreed. (Now let me teach you how to not hear every single thing we think because this could get really annoying if we constantly hear each other.)

I spent a half an hour teaching Pietro how to open and close the link between us, allowing him to fully understand it's meaning.

"There, now you won't hear everything I think," I said. "Think of something and I'll see if pick up on it without using my telepathy."

Pietro went into thought and I heard absolutely nothing. "Did you hear that?"

"Nope," I said. He tried the same thing with me and got the same result. "Well now that that's out of the way, are you ready to show me what's been to painful to say out loud."

Pietro simply nodded his head and I went into his mind as he went into mine.

In Semina's mind

_Fourteen year old Semina walked up the stairs of her Aunt Viv's condo after school to go to her power training lessons. Ever since she got her new power of water manipulation last year, Aunt Viv has been teaching her how to control and hopefully master them along with her telepathy and empathy . As she approached the right door, a man wearing a collared shirt came out of it._

"_Thank you for your cooperation, mam," the unfamiliar man said. "I got all the information I needed. You have a nice day."_

_The man brushed past Semina before stopping in his tracks and glancing back at her in curiosity. Semina looked in his coal black eyes and felt a chill run through her. Something was off about this guy and she knew it without having to read his mind. The man tore his gaze from her and proceeded down the stairs._

"_Who was that man?" Semina asked as she gave her aunt a kiss on the cheek._

"_He says that he came to do a survey about single women in their thirties but I know he came for something else," Vivian said. "I just don't know what."_

"_Why don't you just read his mind?" Semina asked. "Things are so much easier that way."_

"_You know the rules," Vivian scolded. At the same time we both said "A telepath shouldn't read the mind of an ordinary human unless it's absolutely necessary."_

"_Yeah, yeah, I know," Semina sighed._

"_Now, let's talk about your powers," Vivian said. "Your telepathy and water manipulation are getting stronger everyday but your empathy is starting to worry me. It's still in the early stages even though you've had it longer than your water manipulation."_

"_Am I doing something wrong?" Semina shyly asked._

"_No, sometimes a mutants power show their true power later in life," Vivian said. "It's called an evolution. When a mutant's powers evolve, they increase in strength but become more difficult to control."_

"_Has that happened to you?" Semina asked._

"_Yeas and it's a good thing Professor Xavier was there to help me," Vivian replied._

"_And it's a good thing you're hear to help me," Semina said as she embraced her aunt tightly. "I love you, Auntie Viv."_

"_I love you too, Semina and I always will. Never forget that," she replied as she hugged her niece just as tightly. "Now let's get started with today's session."_

_The next day, Semina was in her aunt's condo for another session munching on a grilled cheese sandwich while taking a break from training. She stopped chewing when she sensed hundreds of minds surrounding the front of the building. She fixed her eyes on her aunt who felt the same thing she did. _

"_Semina, I need you to in my bedroom," Vivian said as she stared at the door. "Go hide under my bed and don't come out until I tell you to."_

_Semina opened her mouth to protest but Vivian said "And don't you dare try to say anything defiant." _

_Semina quickly complied and hid under the bed as instructed. She could hear Aunt Viv's door break open and footsteps storming in._

"_Hold your fire men!" a voice Semina soon would never forget yelled. "You're coming with us, mutie."_

"_I haven't done anything," Vivian calmly retorted. "On what grounds do you have the right to take me?" Even in the face of impending danger, Vivian never panicked._

"_On the grounds of safety," the man replied. "Safety from the human race against you mutant freaks!"_

"_I've never harmed a human in my life," Vivian shouted. "And I refuse to go anywhere with you."_

"_I tried to do this peacefully but you leave me no choice," the man said. "Men, bring her with us anyway possible."_

_Suddenly, Semina heard pained male screams and chaos erupted. Just then her aunt yelled in pain. She heard her get brutally thrown into the wall and get restrained by a pair of heavy metal cuffs that shut with a loud 'clamp'. _

_(Semina, you have to run!) her aunt weakly but frantically told her. (Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I just need you to go home. You can leave through the fire escape. There are no people there.)_

_(But-) Semina began to protest. _

_(GO NOW!) Vivian shouted._

_Semina bolted from her hiding space and made her way through the window and out of the building from the fire escape. _

"_Sir, there's another person here," one of the soldiers said to the man in charge._

"_Leave them," he said. "We got what we came for."_

In Pietro's mind

_Eleven year old twins, Pietro and Wanda sat in the living room of their three bedroom home playing video games on their PlayStation 2. They were tied and Pietro just couldn't stand to lose to his sister so he did the only thing he could think of: cheat. Pietro reached over to his sister's controller and tried to make knocking it out of her hand look like an accident._

_'WINNER!' the T.V blared as it declared Pietro the victor._

"_You cheater!" Wanda yelled as she shoved her brother._

"_It's not my fault girls are bad at video games," Pietro smugly said. "I didn't need to cheat to beat you."_

"_But you did!" Wanda angrily said as she stomped her foot. The moment she did the PlayStation exploded._

"_Whoa! What just happened?" Pietro asked in fear._

"_Don't change the subject!" Wanda snapped. "Admit that you cheated and apologize!"_

"_I'm not apologizing to you!" Pietro stubbornly shouted._

_Wanda growled in anger and the house began to rumble and shake. The T.V screen cracked and sparks began to fly from it. The floor began to crack while pipes and wires protruded from the walls. Pieces of the ceiling began falling around the twins and glass was shattered around them. The light bulbs above them exploded cascading sparks to the wood floor that immediately caught on fire. Pietro noticed that his sister was glowing blue but she didn't seem to realize it. Just then, their father ran in and saw what was happening. _

"_Wanda! Stop it right now!" Erik demanded._

"_I can't," Wanda cried out. "I don't have any control over it!"_

"_Father, what's happening?" Pietro asked.  
_

"_Your sister can't control her newly acquired powers," he replied. "Pietro, I need you to get outside now!"_

_Pietro knew better than to argue and bolted outside. Not even Pietro had gotten his powers yet. Once outside, Pietro watched in horror as their house collapsed leaving behind a pile of smoking debris. _

"_No! Wanda! Father!" Pietro shouted._

_Moments later, he saw his dad crawl out from under the rubble clutching an unconscious Wanda._

"_What's going on, father?" Pietro questioned. "Is Wanda gonna be okay?"_

"_She'll be fine," Erik replied. "But I can't risk something like this happening again. If Wanda can't control her anger then I'll have to take extreme measures."_

_The next day, Pietro stood under a tree in front of his father's car feeling helpless. The rain pouring down matched the eerie mood perfectly._

"_Father, where are we?" Wanda asked as she looked around._

"_Someone where you'll learn to control yourself," Erik coldly replied. "I'm sorry but you brought this on yourself, Wanda."_

_Two men in nurses outfits with raincoats approached the car and escorted Wanda toward the the dark building._

"_What, no! What's going on?" Wanda frantically asked. "Father, tell them to let me go."_

"_I'm sorry Wanda," Erik said. "I'm doing what's best."_

"_Father! Father!" Wanda screamed in fear as she struggled in the men's grasps. Tears streamed down her cheeks and blurred her vision. She sobbed and cried out "Father! Don't leave me!"_

_After she disappeared into the building, Pietro and his father got into Erik's car and drove away without a second thought. _

"_Did you really have to leave her there?" Pietro asked. "You could have helped her yourself."_

"_She was out of control," Erik said. _

"_But why couldn't you have taken her to that Professor Xavier guy?" Pietro continued. "I bet he could've done something._

_Erik abruptly stopped the car and glared at Pietro in rage. "You are a child and I have no reason to justify myself to you because I'm the adult. But if you disagree with what's been done just tell me so."  
_

"_I do disagree," Pietro bodly said. "You shouldn't have left Wanda at that asylum. It's not right."_

"_Well, neither is this," Erik said as he opened the car door with his powers and pushed Pietro out of the car into the rain. After shutting the door, he rolled down the window and said "Let this be a lesson to you. Never try to question my actions." _

_Pietro watched in disbelief as his father drove off leaving him in the rain. He watched as his father's car turned into a distant blip as it sped further and further away._

Present Time

Pietro and I retracted from each others minds with shocked faces.

"No wonder why we could never talk about our past," Pietro said.

"Too traumatic," I agreed. "So, where is Wanda now? Did she ever get released?"

"No, my father has let her stay locked in that asylum for six years now," Pietro said as he clenched his fist.

"I knew he was a monster but his own daughter?" I questioned. "Where was your mom in all of this?"

"My mother died right after she gave birth to me and Wanda," Pietro said. "I never actually met her."

"Oh," was all I could say. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"It's okay. You can't miss what you never had, right?" Pietro shrugged. "But now I see why you miss your aunt so much. She seemed like a nice woman."

I fiddled with my bracelet and smiled grimly. "She was. My aunt gave me this charm bracelet when I got my powers. The charms represent each of my powers but since she was taken I haven't been able to find a fourth charm."

"Do you know the man who took her?" Pietro asked.

"Nope, I never saw him before he showed up the day before he took her," I said. "But I will never forget his cold black eyes or the chill in his voice."

"You'll find her, Semina," Pietro reassured.

"It's funny, isn't it?" I asked avoiding Pietro's gaze.

"What is?" Pietro asked.

"That even though we didn't talk about the things we've been keeping locked up, sharing them telepathically has brought us closer than we ever were before," I said.

"I've never gotten this close to a girl before," Pietro honestly said. "I should be freaking out but I'm not. Something about all of this just feels like it was supposed to be this way."

I gave no reply to his statement because I pulled him toward me and kissed him with desire and longing. Pietro kissed me back with the same amount of emotion I was giving out. We sat on the couch making out for the first time in months and just being happy to have the other in our arms. Pietro let my hair out of a bun and it cascaded down my shoulders. Pietro's hand found it's way to my back and felt the scars on my back. As he went for my zipper I tensed up and broke apart from him, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

"I'm sorry," I apologized. I suddenly felt pain in my ribs and took another painkiller which dulled it away.

"For what?" he asked.

"For not being the same," I replied as I looked away from him. "I'm not the same sexy girl you fell for. My body has been battered and it's not the nicest thing to look at anymore. I'm not physically good enough for you."

"Mina, I don't care if your entire body was covered in scars," Pietro said as he gently veered my chin toward him. "I'd still love you as much as I do now."

I felt a tear drop from my eye and Pietro kissed it away before recapturing my lips. In my ear, he whispered "You'll always be perfect enough for me."

Pietro delicately scooped me into his arms and we proceeded toward the bedroom. He laid me on the soft bed and carefully crawled on top of me trying his best to avoid my leg. Before Pietro could finish unzipping my dress, his hand hesitated.

"Yes, Pietro. I'm absolutely sure that I'm ready," I said picking up on his thoughts. "This is something I _want_ to do."

I leaned up and kissed him gradually bringing his head down toward mine. Pietro continued kissing me while he slipped off my dress. It fell the the floor without a sound leaving me in my strapless bra and cupcake panties.

"Cupcakes?" Pietro questioned with a chuckle and raised eyebrow.

"I thought they were cute," I smiled. Pietro held in laughter and I rolled my eyes and said "Oh, just shut up and kiss me."

As Pietro removed his clothes, I wiggled out of my bra and panties. In the darkness, Pietro's soft hands roamed my body sending goosebumps over my skin and speeding up the beat of my heart. No words were spoken between us. It was just the sound of the rushing waterfall outside, our heartbeats and the breathy moans of our guilty pleasure.

An hour later

My eyes fluttered open and I took in my surroundings. I felt Pietro's naked body pressed up against mine and what just happened all came back to me. There was a slight pain between my legs from my hymen being broken but I ignored it. A million things were rushing through my mind. I had just lost my virginity to Pietro and I didn't know how to feel. I will say this though, I don't regret any second of it.

"Oh, you're awake," Pietro said as he kissed my neck. "You feeling okay?"

"Besides a little 'first time' pain, I'm just great," I smiled. "Thanks for being so gentle. I half expected you to rip me in half with your super speed."

"I wasn't trying to hurt you," Pietro said. "I knew how...sensitive you were."

"For an arrogant, narcissistic guy, you're pretty considerate of you're girlfri- I mean, my comfort," I said. "I forgot we're not together anymore."

"Who says we're not," Pietro smirked.

"Are you saying what I think you are?" I excitedly asked.

"Magneto can take it up with me if he doesn't like us together again," Pietro said. "But if we're gonna do this, you have to make sure that you're never out in public by yourself. I'll do my best to protect you but I can't have you getting hurt again."

"Okay, I promise," I said as I kissed him again. I slipped out of the silk sheets, readjusted my leg brace and stood up. "Now let's go take a dip in the river."

"Let me get my clothes," Pietro said.

"You're not gonna need 'em," I winked as I sauntered out of the cabin. I walked to the riverbank and carefully stepped in the warm liquid after removing the brace. It was amazing how good water felt against bare skin.

Pietro followed me in and asked "Why the sudden need to want to swim? You're leg's pretty messed up."

"We need to get the smell of sex off of our skin," I explained. "Logan will be able to smell it on me if I don't wash it away."

"Oh, that's smart," Pietro said as he swam next to me and kissed me. "I always did think you were just as smart as you were cute."

"Aww," I said as I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a hug.

After swimming around, more like paddling for me, Pietro and I pulled our clothes back on and headed back to Bayville where the dance had ended fifteen minutes ago. Pietro and I walked hand in hand through the cold night air. With my back and arms completely exposed, I was getting colder by the second. Pietro noticed my shivering and draped his brown blazer over my shoulders. We arrived at the mansion gates and parted with a simple kiss. I offered Pietro his blazer back but he told me to keep it. I walked into the mansion and sighed happily as I leaned on the front door.

"There you are, sprinkler," Logan said. He sniffed the air and growled "Why are you wearing Pietro's jacket?"

"I got cold and he offered it to me," I replied.

"You're supposed to be staying away from, kid remember?" Logan reminded.

"I remember," I sighed. "But that doesn't mean he can't be nice to me. He was being a gentlemen."

"Gentlemen or not, he's still Magneto's son," Logan said.

"Thanks for that obvious speculation," I chuckled. Logan narrowed his eyes at me and I quickly said "Okay, okay. No need to get angry. I'll return when I get the chance okay?"

"That's a great idea," Logan said. "Couldn't have thought of anything better myself."

"Whatever, Logan," I scowled. "So what have you been up to all this time?"

"It's a long story," Logan sighed.

"Care to tell it?" I asked.

Logan heavily sighed before gruffly saying "Sure. Why not?"

I followed Logan to the kitchen where he pulled out a beer for him and soda for me. Logan popped out his claws and used them to pop the bottle cap off. After taking a sip Logan retold the nights events and I couldn't help but be both awestruck and envious.

"Taking on monsters from Kurt's teleporting dimension? Kinda wish I was there," I said. "I've been dying to get back into battle. It's no fun staying cooped up in my room all day and not being able to use my powers."

"When you're back in fighting shape, we'll have a session in the Danger Room," Logan said. "Just the two of us. Okay?"

"Okay," I answered.

"What's with the tears?" Logan asked in curiosity and concern.

"Nothing, it's just that this is the kind of...bonding I always wished to have with my own dad," I replied with a distant gaze in my eyes. "I know it seems silly to shed tears over but you're more of a father to me than he is."

Logan looked at me and grunted before turning his head away. But I could still see the corner of his mouth slightly turn up into what I would count as a smile.

A/N: Aww, this was the most emotionally beautiful moment I've ever written between Logan and and Mina. I think I might do more from now on. And yeah guys, Mina and Pietro totally did it. Don't worry, I have a reason for it. In the next chapter, _it_ finally begins. Read the next chapter find out what happens. And don't forget to review this one! Oh and I've decided that once I hit one hundred reviews, I'll tell everyone the plot of the sequel!


	25. The Mayhem Begins

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution or any song used in this story, so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

The Mayhem Begins

I cautiously walked down the dimly lit alley until I came upon a dead end. The only things surrounding me were an overly filled dumpster, stray litter and a tan cat perched on top of a gate.

"Thanks for showing up," I said as I crossed my arms impatiently. "Are you gonna stay like that the entire time? Because I'd look crazy if I got caught conversing with a cat."

The cat jumped down from the gate and landed at my feet. The cat slowly transformed into Mystique who stared me down with suspicion in her eyes. Her new black combat outfit was a much better choice of clothing than that white mosque she used to wear.

"Why did you want to meet with me?" Mystique questioned. "Not nearly as clever to be a trap laid out by the X-Men and I haven't wronged you in any way so this isn't a revenge visit. What do you want?"

"Well, hello to you to," I sarcastically said. "You always were one for warm, friendly greetings."

"Stop wasting my time and tell me what it is you want!" Mystique yelled.

"Okay, since you have no sense of humor, I'll just cut to the point," I shrugged. "I want you to release a captured mutant."

"Well, this is a surprise," Mystique smirked. "I suppose no one else knows we're meeting if your asking for something like this done."

"Correct," I replied.

"Suppose I do break this mutant out, what do I get in return?" Mystique inquired.

"In return, I'll personally help you hunt down and kill Magneto," I stated with a serious look on my face.

Mystique raised her eyebrow in both surprise at my collateral and admiration at my blatant disregard for the consequences I might face.

"You're serious about this," Mystique commented.

"Damn right I am," I smirked. I held out my hand and asked "So do we have a deal?"

Mystique looked down at my hand before smiling and shaking it. "Deal. So, which mutant did you have in mind?"

"Wanda," I said. "Wanda Maximoff."

* * *

With the professor in upstate New York having his monthly sessions with Wanda, I was in cerebro with Beast scanning the area for new mutants. Professor X had asked me to take over for a while in his absence.

"Simply amazing," Beast gushed. "You've managed to fully operate cerebro in just a matter of months."

"The professor taught me well," I smiled.

"Wow, you're just as smart as your aunt," Beast said.

I stopped tying and my telepathic scan ceased when I heard what Beast said. "Y-you know my aunt?"

"Yes, I do," Beast nodded. "Follow me."

I took off the helmet and obediently followed after Beast who led me to his room. He went over to the dresser and picked up a picture frame. He handed it to me and I widened my eyes in amazement. In the picture was a teenage Hank hanging from a chandelier and my aunt as a teenager standing next to a twenty-something professor Xavier who wasn't bald and another man I didn't recognize.

"She looks almost exactly like me," I marveled.

"Yes she did," Beast wistfully said. "You're the spitting image of your aunt."

"And you're not blue and furry," I noticed.

"My mutation was in the early stages back then," Beast sighed. "Except for my feet I was considered...normal."

"Who's the man in the picture?" I asked. "He looks familiar but I can't quite recognize him."

"That's Magneto," Beast answered. "He was just Erik Lensherr back then. Charles and Erik were the best of friends until Magneto decided that there was a need to be the superior race."

"Best friends?" I questioned. "Hmm, never would've guessed that."

I looked at the picture for a little while longer and said "So this is where you met my aunt. What was her codename?"

"Medulla," Beast smiled. "She was an excellent telepath. Vivian was probably the youngest telepath to ever almost match the professor in power. Then you came along and broke her record."

"So you're saying I'm almost as strong as the professor?" I asked in disbelief.

"Your family does have unusually strong mutants," Beast replied. "LaToya's super sonic screams are far more powerful than Banshee's. He's an old friend of mine who has the same power as your sister."

"What about Anthony?" I asked.

"Out of all the mutants I've met, he's the first one who's had earth manipulation as a power," Beast said. "It's incredible though. Your brother's powers are progressing slower than you and your sister's but he'll soon be ready to manipulate metal."

"Like Magneto?" I sneered.

"Not quite," Beast told me. "Metal is a form of refined earth and it should be able to be manipulated the way Anthony manipulates rocks. You're children should just as strong as you, if not stronger."

"Wow," I said. "My family is awesome."

Just then my phone rang and as soon as I recognized the number, I quickly said "Excuse me, Hank. I have to take this."

I excused myself from the room and answered the phone in a hushed whisper "Did you get the job done?"

"Wanda is sitting in front of me and is en route to see him," Mystique said.

"Great," I smiled. "I know you hate me but I appreciate you doing this for me."

"And you'll hold up you end of the deal?" Mystique questioned.

"Without a doubt," I answered.

After hanging up, Beast and I returned to cerebro to finish what we started.

Later that night

Several hours later, the professor came home but immediately called us to the library to discuss something of "Top Priority".

"What's going on professor?" Jean asked.

"A very unstable mutant has recently escaped from the SmithDale Insane Asylum," professor answered.

"Are you talking about Wanda?" I asked.

"I'm afraid so, Semina," he replied.

"Wait, how do you know her name?" Scott asked.

"I know her," I replied. "Well, sort of."

"How?" Kitty asked.

"Wanda is Pietro's _twin sister_," I told them.

"How did you know?" Evan asked.

"Pietro and I have been dating for months now," I said. "I found ways to get things out of him."

"Oh, so you're _that_ kind of girl," Evan mumbled.

"What was that, Evan?" I said getting angry. "Something you wanna say in front of everybody else?"

"I said that I never would have imagined you were that kind of girl," Evan clearly said.

"And what do you mean by that?" Anthony asked. The vain in his neck starting flexing which means that he was getting really pissed off.

"Just forget it," Evan dismissed.

"I'm gonna remember that, Evan," I warned him.

The professor cleared his throat and said "Enough. Wanda's mind is fragile and combined with the intensity of her powers, she can be very, _very_ dangerous. Not to mention her angry violent outbursts."

"Like Semina," Anthony snickered. I punched him in the arm causing him to narrow his eyes at me.

"What is the source of all the anger?" Jean asked.

"The source of my anger," I answered. "Magneto. What kind of man dumps his own daughter in an insane asylum just because she can't control her powers? She was just eleven for God's sake! It wasn't her fault they went haywire."

"So Pietro must've told you everything about her then," Rogue said.

"We must not be thinking about the same Pietro," I chuckled. "He's too proud to get all emotional. I was in his mind."

"How is that even possible!" Jean exclaimed. "Pietro's thoughts are too fast to read. I thought no telepath can read his mind."

"I can," I smirked. "I found a way to but only _I_ can read his mind, but I don't advise you to try to 'cause you might get mentally repelled from the speed of his thoughts."

"I wasn't planning on it," Jean said. "It's probably disgusting in there."

"It is,"' I laughed. "It's a good thing telepaths can repress memories or I would've needed a mental cleaning, if you know what I mean."

Jean and I laughed while everyone else looked clueless sans the professor.

"It's a telepath thing," Jean said.

"Yeah, you guys wouldn't understand," I chuckled.

"Anyway, back to the matter at hand," the professor cut in. "I have reason to believe Wanda did not escape by herself. Not after all her years of captivity. There's someone else working behind the scenes her and that person may be planning to use Wanda's powers against us. So I'd like to suggest that you be in your best fighting shape over the next few days, just in case."

"Yes, professor," we answered in unison.

When we piled out of the library, I felt a slight mental tug and realized Pietro wanted to speak with me.

(Hey, baby,) I happily greeted. (What's up?)

(Semina, we need to talk,) Pietro replied. (Meet me at our spot in twenty minutes.)

Pietro broke off our conversation and I couldn't help but feel slightly worried. I rushed to my brother and asked if I could borrow his car.

"What for?" he questioned.

"I don't have time to explain," I said. "Just trust me, Anthony. I promise I won't scratch up the paint or mess with anything else. I just have to go meet with someone."

"You're going to see Pietro aren't you?" Anthony sighed.

I looked down and nodded my head. Anthony has been even more protective of me since I got hurt but even he can see that I love Pietro enough to not stay away from him. Anthony sighed deeply, the way a father would do when he was torn between letting his teenage daughter out of the house or not, before reaching into his pocket and dropping his keys on the floor.

He began walking away and loudly said "I sure hope Semina doesn't find my keys because then I would have no control over letting her take my car."

I smiled and grabbed the keys off the floor before rushing over to Anthony and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"You're the best, Tony!" I called as I jogged toward the garage.

* * *

As soon as I spotted Pietro skipping rocks across the river, I zoomed over to him and gave him a long kiss. Pietro began to kiss me back but he felt...distant and hesitant.

He abruptly broke the kiss and said "My sister's back."

"Isn't that what you've always wanted?" I asked.

"She hates me," Pietro dejectedly said. "My only sister _hates_ me because she thought I wanted her to stay in that place."

"Haven't you tried explaining things to her?" I asked. Pietro looked at me like I had two heads and I quickly said "Oh right."

"She told me I was just like _him_," Pietro said. The word 'him' dripped from his mouth like acid.

"Your father is an evil, twisted man," I reassured. "You're nothing like him. You never will be because I can see the good in you."

"Semina, you and I both know there's no good in me," Pietro chuckled.

"Yes there is," I told him. "Maybe not X-Man good but you, unlike your father, have a heart. A heart that enables you to love and care for the people you hold close to you. I can tell that you love your sister even if you can't say it. And that ability to love is what keeps you separate from Magneto."

"How did I ever get as lucky to have a girl like you love me?" Pietro quietly asked.

"Because you're an excellent judge of character and have great taste," I joked.

"I sure do," Pietro said as he eyed me hungrily.

"Sorry, Pietro," I apologized. "Not tonight. I'm on a time limit here. I have to return my brother's car before he _fully_ realizes that he let me come see you."

"He can wait," Pietro said as he kissed the sensitive spot on my neck.

"N-no, Pietro," I weakly protested as my insides fluttered with delight. "Please stop before we go too far."

"Alright, fine," Pietro sighed as he stopped his assault on my neck.

"You still look bothered," I said as I noticed the slight scowl underlying his incredibly cute pout. "Is there something wrong?"

"No," Pietro lied. I crossed my arms and glared at him with a look that says 'Like I'm really gonna believe that'. "No, really, Mina. Don't worry about it. It's nothing."

My glare softened as I touched his hand and said "You don't have to keep stuff bottled in anymore because you have me. I will always be here if you need to talk about it."

Pietro picked up my hand and kissed my knuckles. "You're the best. But I really don't want to talk about this."

"As long as it won't come between us, I respect your decision not to tell me," I said before I pulled him into a hug. With my face concealed from his, I failed to notice the sorrowful frown on his face.

The Next Day

It was lunchtime and for the first time, Pietro and I were having lunch with Kitty and Lance at our spot under the oak tree. Granted, Pietro was irritated by Kitty's presence but I was grateful for their company.

"So how're you coping with having Wanda around?" I asked as I munched on a french fry.

"She still hates me," Pietro sighed.

"Your sister is mental, Pietro," Lance added. "She hates everything, not just you."

"Gee, that makes me feel so much better," Pietro replied, his voice thick with sarcasm.

"What did you do to make her hate you so much?" Kitty questioned.

"None of your business, Pryde," Pietro snapped.

"Pietro," I said in a warning tone. He just crossed his arms and looked away. "Sorry, Kitty. You just struck one of Pietro's many sensitive nerves."

"Oh, I hadn't realized," Kitty said.

"It's fine," I dismissed. "Just try not to strike another one or else I won't be liable for anything he might do."

"Oh, don't worry, Mina," Kitty giggled. "I have my big, strong boyfriend here to protect me."

Lance blushed as Kitty gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Aww, you guys are so adorable," I gushed.

"So are we," Pietro piped in. "We're more adorable than them."

"Must you make everything into a competition?" I asked.

"Yes," he and Lance replied at the same time.

"A couple of days ago, Pietro challenged me to see who could burp the loudest," Lance said. "We both lost to Blob."

"Figures," I smiled. "You guys are such...guys."

"Well, we do have the genitalia to show for it," Pietro smirked.

Kitty and I laughed before agreeing that our boyfriends are weird.

"Has it been weird having Mystique back?" Kitty asked.

"Yeah, I mean she's been gone for so long that it's hard to tell if she's here to stay or not," Lance said. "She's even run Tabby out of the house."

"Really?" I inquired in surprise. "Where is she gonna stay now? She's not coming back to the mansion. Tabitha hates the X-Men and why would she come back if Kurt's taken now?"

"You mean it's finally happened?" Pietro laughed. "LaToya is dating fuzzball?"

I hit Pietro in the arm and said "Yes. They're dating. Problem? Question? Concern?"

"No, none at all," Pietro said as he doubled over in laughter.

"What's his problem?" Lance asked.

"He thinks it's weird for my sister and Kurt to be dating because they're so different," I answered.

"I just think it's great for Kurt to be infatuated with someone other than me," Kitty chuckled.

"Wait, what?" Lance asked.

"Kurt used to have a crush on Kitty," I clarified. "That is until he met my sister."

"If you ask me, it's a major step up," Pietro said.

"Pietro, stop it," I snapped. "Leave Kitty alone. You're mean to her now but one of these days she might end up saving your ass from certain death."

"The day that comes will be the day, I join Magneto's cause," Pietro scoffed. "So that basically means NEVER."

"Anything is possible when you're a teenage mutant," I shrugged. "You never know what's gonna happen."

* * *

"Stone, duck!" Cyclops called out as he blasted a flying laser bot right above my brother's head.

"Good looking out, Cyclops," Stone called out.

Professor X had requested that we go through a new simulation in the Danger Room that was harder than any of our previous ones. We were fairing well until the flying bots came out. Our objective was to flip the switch to shut the simulation off. Sounded easy enough to do until he told us to reach it without walking on an actual floor. It's a good thing Jean and I can fly. Most of you may be wondering when I learned to fly so let me give you a quick flashback.

_Three weeks ago_

"_Who would be dumb enough to put a textbook on a roof as a joke?" I exclaimed as I carefully walked on the roof of the mansion. _

_Somehow, a practical joke was played on poor little Jamie and one of the other New Mutants hid his textbook on the roof. I eventually inched my way toward the book and slowly bent down to retrieve it. Just then Cannonball whizzed over my head startling me and causing me to lose my balance. My foot slipped on the shingles and I went sliding toward the edge of the roof. I desperately grasped for the side of the roof only to find myself already falling over it. I squeezed my eyes shut and anticipated for the sickening crack awaiting the bones in my body but felt puzzled when I felt nothing happen. Come to think of it, I felt weightless too. I opened my eyes and looked down to see myself floating at least five feet from the ground. _

"_Yes!" I exclaimed. "I'm not dead!"_

_That momentary celebration stopped whatever was keeping me airborne and dropped me to the soft grass. Besides a very sore ass, I was fine for the most part. After I told the professor, he said that we'd get to work right away to help me fly on my own._

_End of Flashback_

As everyone else struggled through the ropes hanging from the ceiling toward the button, Jean and I did our best to keep the flying laser bots from attacking everyone.

"Semina, behind you!" Rogue called out.

I looked over my shoulder and deflected the laser with a telekinetic shield before slamming the robot into the wall.

"Thanks, Rogue!" I shouted.

After taking out the rest of the bots, I had reached the button before Jean who decided to go protect Cyclops. Time was winding down and I was inches from the rope when I noticed Kitty struggling to keep her grip on the rope. Her fingers were trying to hold on but her hand kept sliding down the rope. She tried the hardest she could to hold on but it was no use and she slipped. I forgot all about the button and flew my fastest just narrowly catching her by the arms.

"I got you, Kitty!" I said as I secured a firm grasp on her. Time ran out and the buzzer sounded signaling the end of the session.

"Whoa, thanks," Kitty sighed. "I thought I was gonna fall."

"That's what friends/teammates are for," I smiled as I floated us down to the floor that had came out from the walls where it was previously retracted.

"Good job saving, Kitty," Scott said. "You chose to forget completing the task in order to save a fellow X-Man. Well done."

"Thanks, Scott," I smiled.

"That's enough for today, X-Men," the professor said wheeling in. "You are dismissed."

As I ran up to my room, I flopped on the bed and telepathically called Pietro.

(Hey, Pietro,) I greeted. (Are you busy because I was thinking that maybe we could-)

(NOW ISN'T THE TIME, SEMINA!) Pietro shouted back. (Sorry for shouting but I'm kinda in the middle of something important. I'll talk to you when I get a chance.)

'That was so weird,' I thought as I clutched my head to still his voice ringing off the walls of my brain. 'I wonder what he's doing that's so important.'

* * *

The X-men sat in the kitchen while Jean and I did the dishes the way only a mutant can. Jean lifted the dishes and scrubbed them with a sponge using her telekinesis. After she got them clean, I would douse them in water to get the soap off and place them on the drying rack. This was much more efficient and way more fun. Just as we finished the last plate, Professor X wheeled in with a serious face on his face. He informed us that Wanda joined the Brotherhood and they were at the Bayville mall doing god knows what. Professor X asked us to suit up to find out what they were up to.

"We're on it," Scott said at the same time I said "No way."

Everyone looked at me in curiosity and shock.

"What do you mean 'no way ?" Scott demanded.

"I mean that we're not going on this mission," I retorted. "I acknowledge the fact that you're the leader and all but you can't agree to this."

"Why not?" Professor X asked. "We can't let the Brotherhood reek havoc in the city."

"I understand that professor. But you and I both know what Wanda can do," I told him before facing the X-Men. "I'm trying to do my part as a member of the team and tell you all that Wanda is no idle threat. I've seen the destruction her powers can cause and it's not pretty. I just think it's best if we sit this out."

"Sit this out?" Scott asked as I saw his face slightly twitch.

"You heard me," I said.

"Really, Semina?" Evan asked in disbelief. "All of this just to protect Maximoff."

I narrowed my eyes at him and hissed "I'm not protecting him. I'm protecting you guys. This isn't the same old group of mutants that we normally beat. They have someone who could do some real damage to us. The girl is living, breathing chaos and it's pretty likely chance one of us is gonna get hurt."

"Come on, Semina," Evan scoffed. "Drop the act. We all know this is because you don't want to face the guy who broke your heart."

Rage filled inside of me as the water in the sink started to violently whirl and loose objects began to levitate. "You just went too far, Evan," I said as I took a step forward.

Anthony put himself between me and Evan and said "Semina, calm down. This isn't the time."

I narrowed my eyes at Evan one last time before focusing on dissipating my anger.

"Evan, what the hell are you trying to do?" Anthony asked.

"Anthony's right," Scott agreed going full on leader. "Stop picking a fight with Semina over petty accusations. We need to hurry up and leave in we want to stop the Brotherhood."

"Why hurry?" Evan asked. "Semina doesn't want to come with us anyway. Maximoff probably told her to keep us from going."

"THAT'S IT!" I shouted. "I'm coming with y'all just to show that you should've listened to me. But don't come crying to me when one of us ends up in the med bay."

At the mall

After Cyclops split up with Jean, Stone and Spyke to scope out the lower level, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Shadowcat and I were left to check out the top half of the mall.

"It's a much better idea if we-" I began before Anthony put a hand on my shoulder and shook his head to say 'I wouldn't say anything right now'.

Getting the hint, I flew up toward the second floor already sensing Pietro's mind nearby. Before I could reach him, Nightcrawler beat me there. I watched in amusement as I saw Pietro dress Kurt only to eventually get kicked into a shoe rack. Nightcrawler teleported away and I quietly crept inside and lifted all the shoes off Pietro with my telekinesis. Pietro looked up at me with relieved eyes as I held in laughter.

"Hey, Semina," Pietro warily smiled. He held up a pair of brown wedges and smirked "I found you a new pair of shoes."

"Ooh, those are cute," I said with a raised eyebrow. "Maybe I should come back and buy those."

"Why don't you just take them now?" Pietro asked as I sat him upright and plopped into his lap.

"Because that would be stealing," I said. "I'm on the good side remember? I'm supposed to keep you out of trouble so stop tempting me with incredibly cute footwear."

"I thought you like bad boys?" Pietro questioned.

I scoffed and said "I don't like bad boys. I _love_ them."

"Then that would make you a bad girl if you kissed me right now wouldn't it?" Pietro smirked.

"Maybe, especially in the middle of a mission too," I said. "You're such a bad boy, Quicksilver."

"Born and raised to be one, Tsunami," He replied as kissed me.

As we broke apart, I frowned at the sight of the red bruise on his forehead and poked it with my pinky.

"Does that hurt?" I asked.

"Just a little," Pietro said. "I can take it."

I sighed at his machismo and took some water out of the air, coated my lips with it and gave him a kiss on the bruise.

"There you go," I cooed. "All better. But..."

"But what?" he asked before I silenced him with a kiss.

"I think you may have bruised your lips too," I smiled.

We kissed for a few more minutes before mutually agreeing that we needed to return to our teams. When I made it down to the first floor I saw Anthony in full rock mode battling with Avalanche while Cyclops and Rogue took out Blob and Toad.

"I thought you said this was gonna be hard," Evan scoffed.

"Shut up, Evan," I barked. "Wanda's around here somewhere. I know it."

Just then I felt both rage and a mind I couldn't clearly decipher and assumed it to belong to Wanda.

"She's here!" I yelled as I immediately surrounded water around my arms to make tentacles. "Wanda's heading down the escalator. Brace yourselves."

For the first time, I saw Wanda coming down the escalator dressed in a scarlet red jumpsuit with rips and tears and matching coat. She threw her arms forward and all hell broke loose. Light bulbs exploded, the piano was thrown at us, Scott's powers were being controlled by Wanda as well as everyone else's.

'I had no idea she could do that,' I thought as I observed her carefully.

After studying how she handled her powers, I reluctantly charged for her with a large wave forming in front of me. I sent it at her only to have it reversed on myself. I quickly flew out of the way of it but felt myself get lifted up by Wanda and thrown into a steel garter. Seeing as how any physical wouldn't work, I decided to try a mental one. I jumped into Wanda's mind and began to bombard her with psychic blasts. I saw her getting weaker and weaker but I lost my concentration as Blob came up behind me and bumped me halfway across the mall with his stomach. I landed on a pile of glass in front of a tall wall of flames.

"No, no, no," I whispered as I shut my eyes. "Not now."

Even with my eyes closed I could still feel the heat of the fire which was enough to send me into my painful slide show of memories. I clutched my head as I curled into fetal position and panted heavily.

"Make it stop!" I sobbed. "I can't take it! Pietro! Please make it stop!"

Wanda looked down at me in surprise, shock and rage before spreading the flames around me in circle that replicated the one form six years ago.

"Stop it!" I desperately screamed out. "STOP IT!"

I couldn't take anymore of it and in a sudden burst of power, gathered all of the surrounding water and extinguished the flames. I cried as I shakily stood up and began to go for Wanda again before a piece of the falling ceiling hurled down toward me. I tried stopping it with my telekinesis only to see that I wasn't going to slow it down in time because I was too tired and unfocused to concentrate on bringing it to a complete stop. I would've gotten crushed if my brother hadn't punched through it with his super strength.

"Thank you," I said as he scooped me up in his arms and carried me toward the exit. "What're you doing? I can still fight!"

"I don't care," Anthony said. "The whole building's coming down and you are not gonna get rapped in the debris with a leg that's still healing. Besides, Scott issued a retreat."

"I told them," I smugly said.

When we got outside, I saw the rest of the X-Men dejectedly standing next to the X-Van.

"Maybe next time when I say something like _that_ was going to happen," I began as I eyed them angrily. "You'll listen."

"Easy, Semina," the professor soothed. "Granted I should've listen to your objections but this was an excellent example of what we should prevent next time we face the Brotherhood."

"I was hoping you'd say that," I smirked.

"Why is that?" the professor asked.

"There is a way to beat Wanda," I said. "And that's with telepathy. It's the one thing she can't reverse on any other mutant which means next time Jean and I have a way to bring her down."

"But you're not even going to try," Evan said.

"Oh, let's hear it this time," I snarled. "What now?"

"I couldn't help but notice you were hesitant to attack her," Evan said.

"So what," I shrugged. "I have a hard time attacking Pietro's sister. Especially his _twin_ sister."

"You hesitated?" Scott yelled. "Maybe that's the reason why we lost. You can't separate your feelings when you're in battle!"

"Okay, you cannot be blaming our loss on me!" I shouted. "I know to fight when the time comes and can realize what I need to get done while on a mission. We lost because Wanda was just as dangerous as I said she was!"

"And because you didn't want to hurt her," Evan yelled. "Pietro is just using you, you do know that, right? By using you he and the Brotherhood will keep winning!"

"He is not using me!" I shouted. "He loves me! No matter what you say about him I know it's not true. Just because he dropped you doesn't mean he's gonna drop me. You just have to face the fact that I'm in love with your 'ex-best friend' turned rival."

Evan glared at me with resentment before climbing into the X-Van. We eventually followed suit and headed back toward the mansion in stony silence.

A/N: Ooh, so much tension. Y'all know what's coming next! And yes I just have to do this overdone part of X-Men: Evolution because it's one of the best parts besides the finale. Review this chappie and tell me what you thought!


	26. Day of Reckoning Part I and II

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! The story is just a few chapters away from ending so I'll be working twice as hard to finish it and start the sequel! Okay, I promised I'd tell my readers the plot of the sequel once I hit 100 reviews and I'm a gal of my word. I plan to do a crossover story with InuYasha where a few of the mutants get transported to the feudal era by one of Forge's inventions, leading to an adventure that will spark changes in everyone's life. Oh and there's a character death but I'm not saying who! Here's the new chapter, ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution or any song used in this story, so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

Day of Reckoning Part I and II

"Can we get some ice cream?" I asked as I walked into the food court with Pietro, Kurt and LaToya. We decided to have a little double dating action to pass the time on this very boring Saturday. "Please?"

Pietro sighed and asked "Why do you want ice cream? You just finished a large vanilla shake and three churros!"

"I just really want something sweet," I replied. "Maybe your sugar addiction rubbed off on me."

I gave Pietro a very sweet face that I knew he couldn't resist and he groaned before saying "Fine! I'll get the stupid ice cream."

I just smiled before kissing him and lacing my hand in his.

"You've been wanting a lot of sweet stuff lately, Mina," LaToya observed.

"Yeah, you at zhe entire pack of cookies yesterday!" Kurt exclaimed before pouting. "You didn't even save me any."

"Sorry, Kurt," I shrugged. "I go through phases like this all the time. Remember last year when I ate nothing but foods with cheese in them, Toya?"

"Don't remind me," LaToya cringed. "It was the most horrible week of my life."

"What was so horrible about it?" Pietro questioned.

"You don't want to know," we replied at the same time.

Pietro sighed and said "Girls. Let's go get your ice cream, babe."

* * *

When I got home from the mall, the professor had informed me that Logan was captured and that he wanted my help to search for him using cerebro. Jean had already looked but the professor insisted that I double check.

"Still nothing, professor," I said as I scanned the last area Logan was in. "Sabertooth's long gone and Wolverine is most likely unconscious. I can't pick him up without his powers being used."

"Hmm, just as I feared," he sighed.

"I do have one question though," I began. "Why aren't you using cerebro instead? You're more powerful than me and Jean."

"I've deiced that I want to give you and Jean a chance to prove how far the two of you have been progressing on how to use cerebro," Professor X smiled.

"Oh, well thank you, professor," I said. "But you already know I can fully operate it."

I could've sworn I saw the professor's eyebrows furrow before he said "I did. But I wanted to witness you using it firsthand. Now, go and get changed. I'm holding a training session with everyone in the Danger Room in twenty minutes. Would you mind alerting the others for me? I have some work that I must finish up."

"Sure thing, professor," I said as I removed the cerebro helmet and left to do as he told me.

An hour later

'This has got to be the most difficult Danger Room session I've ever had,' I thought as I jumped out of the way of an orange paint ball pellet.

In this session we, and by we I mean the X-Men _and_ the New Mutants, had to destroy the target which just happened to be Magneto while trying to avoid getting tagged by a flying drone that shot out tiny orange paint pellets. If you got hit with one you were immediately dismissed from the session. It only took a matter of minutes for all the New Mutants, except Siren and Magma, to get tagged out and one of the drones even took out Rogue and Nightcrawler!

"What do you suggest we do now?" Siren asked.

"I have an idea," Jean piped up. "First we have to-"

"DUCK!" I yelled.

"What? No," Jean said.

"GET DOWN!" I said as I slammed the two drones that were creeping up behind Jean into each other before putting a shield up to stop the barrage of orange paint.

"Thanks for the save," Jean thanked. I acknowledged her statement with a simple smile and head nod.

"How are we gonna take out the target if we keep getting attacked by these drones?" Shadowcat questioned.

"Can't someone take 'em out from here?" Siren asked.

"With the rocks in the way, the angle of trajectory would be off and it'll miss," Stone explained. "I can't change the rock formation or we'll be left without a source of natural cover."

"So it's pretty much hopeless," Magma sighed. "We're right back to where we started!"

"Yeah, hey, hi everyone. Can't keep this shield up forever," I pointed out. "Make a plan, someone!"

"Okay, we're gonna rush him," Cyclops said.

"That's not gonna work," I countered. "If this were the real Magneto, he wouldn't be so easy to take down. There has to be another way."

"We don't have time to think of anything else," Cyclops said. "We're going for it!"

I huffed as I reluctantly took down the shield I was holding up. We dashed forward and surrounded "him" and got into battle positions. As we inched closer, an idiot by the name of Spyke kicked a rock which toppled down and knocked the helmet off of Magneto's head. It wasn't until it hit the floor that we realized it was a bomb. Stone who was standing next to me and Siren grabbed us both and made a rock dome to protect us from the blast. The Danger Room rumbled and shook for a few moments before settling down. I heard panicked screams and automatically assumed everyone else just got tagged.

"If he takes down the dome, we get tagged," Siren said as she voiced what I was thinking.

"But we can't stay in here forever," I said.

"We're not," Stone smiled.

"Ooh, someone has a plan," Siren said. "What is it?"

"You," he replied. "The vibrations coming from the earth tell me that the explosion came from directly in front of us meaning that once I take it down, I want you to let those drones have it with your sonic screams."

"YES!" Siren whooped. "I finally get to do something."

Stone dropped the rock shield and we both covered our ears as soon as Siren opened her mouth. The drones in front of us exploded from the assault but in the midst of our "victory", three more drones came up from behind us. Stone got hit in the back and leg, Siren got hit in the arm and chest and I got hit in the middle of my stomach and on my shoulder.

"I want to see you all in the planning room now!" Professor X angrily yelled into the microphone in the control room.

"Oh boy, he sounds mad," I sighed.

As we all joined him in the planning room, the professor chastised us for handling the situation so poorly. Scott tried to convince him that we were ready but was stopped at every turn.

"It's clear that none of you are ready to face Magneto," the professor said coming to a decision.

"I disagree," I spoke up. "We're _more_ than capable to take that evil man down. I've dealt with Magneto on two separate occasions and I can say that though it may take everything we have to beat him, we can do it."

"Is that so?" Professor X inquired. "Then would you mind telling me how you plan to do this when every time you're faced with him, you blindly charge for him with no plan or strategy in which to defeat him?"

"I'll admit that I have let my anger get in the way of my judgment in the past but I-" I began until the professor held up his hand for me to stop. I was about to comply when I sensed the minds ascending the elevator. "Professor, the Br-"

"That's quite enough, Semina," he sternly said as he shot me a glare. "I know what I have to do."

"What's that?" Jean asked.

"I'm left for the need to bolster your ranks," Professor X said as he wheeled toward the elevator doors. "Therefore, I'd like you all to welcome your new teammates."

Surprise crossed everyone's faces, especially Scott's, as the elevator opened up to reveal the Brotherhood. Despite my irritation Pietro winked at me and I had no choice but to smile slightly and pretend to look mad. Cries of protest rang out behind me at the very thought of having to work with the rival team.

Professor X quieted us down and said "Despite your personal feelings, we face tremendous odds going up against Magneto and with the Brotherhood joining us, we have a chance to bring him down."

"Some of our personal feelings could put us all in danger," Evan said. "Isn't that right, Semina?"

I shot him a glare and through clenched teeth said "Shut up, Evan. This isn't the time."

"When will be the time?" Evan retorted. "When we lose to Magneto? Oh and as memory serves me, you just so happen to be in love with his son! _You_ could be the reason we lose this battle!"

Pietro zoomed over and barked "Watch what you say to my girlfriend, Daniels!"

'Girlfriend?' Wanda thought with a curiously raised eyebrow. 'Pietro's dating an X-Man?'

"ENOUGH! All of you!" Professor X shouted. "The point is that we need their help in this endeavor."

"I just don't see why they're even helping us," Evan pointed out. "We hate them and they hate us."

"We have our reasons," Pietro replied as his eyes flickered over to me.

"Yeah and from what I see old red eye over there stinks as your team leader," Lance snidely said. "You guys could use a new one."

Scott surprised everyone in the room by saying "Oh, yeah? Well, guess what, Shakedown? You can have the job. I'm done with this" and promptly storming out of the room. Jean tried to go after him but was stopped by the professor who said to let him go, which was even _more_ surprising than Scott's dramatic exit.

"Whoa! Did that really just happen?" LaToya asked in shock.

"Yeah, it did," Anthony said.

"Who's team leader now?" Rogue asked.

"I will be entrusting the job of team leader to Semina," Professor X said. "She shows both ferocity and prowess on the battle field and, despite her angry outbursts, has excellent tactical skills and judgment."

"No thank you," I quickly said. Everyone looked at me and I continued. "I'm not fit to be team leader. Don't you think I'd be just the tiniest bit...biased in my decisions? Everyone else seems to think so. And by everyone else, I mean Evan."

I was hoping he'd agree with me but the professor said "Nonsense. I'm putting you in charge for a reason. I trust you'll be able to separate the importance of the mission with your boyfriend. "

"I'm not saying I can't," I carefully said. "Taking down Magneto is my number one goal in life but I really think you should let Jean be the leader. She's been doing this longer and will be _completely_ fair in her decisions."

Professor X pondered this for a moment before saying "Alright but I will have you put second in charge and you will personally be helping me resume the search for Wolverine."

"Fair enough," I said.

"Who are we taking with us for the mission?" Jean asked.

"I want you six along with Storm and Beast to work alongside the Brotherhood," the professor explained. "I also want Anthony, LaToya and Magma to join us. The rest of you will be staying here because I can't take the risk of including you. I want you all to be ready to go by 7:00 A.M sharp tomorrow morning. Understood?"

"Yes professor," we said in unison.

"Rogue and Kitty, I want you two to show the Brotherhood to the rooms I've prepared for their short stay," Professor X directed. "Semina and Jean, you two will be following me to cerebro to conduct the search and the rest of you are dismissed."

After a couples hours of tracking, we finally found Wolverine. He was located somewhere in upstate New York when his healing abilities kicked in. I really hope he isn't that badly hurt. After getting the coordinates, the professor told us to get some rest for the morning ahead of us. However, the first place I headed was Pietro's room. He knew I was coming so I didn't even have to knock.

"Hi, Pietro," I greeted as I spotted him laying on his back on the bed. I flopped down on top of him and gave him a kiss which he happily accepted.

"This is how you X-Geeks live huh?" Pietro asked as he looked around the well furnished room. "A little too high maintenance for my taste."

"Whatever, you know that this a step up from the Brotherhood house," I chuckled. "And this room is bigger than yours."

"But your room is much more cozy," Pietro smirked. "How about we go there instead?"

"I couldn't agree more," I deviously said. "My bed's big enough for two."

"That poses some ideas on how to kill some time," Pietro said as he followed me to the door.

As soon as we stepped out of it, I ran into a brick wall named Anthony.

"Semina was just saying good night, wasn't she Pietro?" Anthony growled.

"Yes-she-was!" Pietro quickly said. He gave me a kiss and said "Night-night! Sweet-dreams!" before zooming back into the room. It's amazing how Pietro is still afraid of my brother.

"You ruin all my fun," I giggled.

"That's my job." Anthony smiled as he rustled my hair. "Now go get some sleep. We have a big battle ahead of us tomorrow. And don't even think of going back in there!"

"Whatever," I said walking toward my room. "Good night, Tony."

As I got into my room, I locked the door and spun around to see Pietro sitting on my bed.

"So you got my message," I smirked.

"Yes, I did," Pietro said. "Now let's finish what we were talking about doing."

"I'm tired," I yawned as I crawled under the covers. "And I really can't be fatigued for tomorrow. Would you mind _just_ sleeping with me?"

Pietro looked irritated but he did climb in after me and wrap me in his arms. After, all the events of the day, I was almost instantly asleep.

On the XM Velocity the nest morning

Pietro and I, fully dressed in our battle suits, walked onto the jet hand in hand and took seats in the middle. We eventually got the word to get a move out from the X-Jet and we took to the skies. Since the X-Jet was bigger, I guess Anthony, LaToya and Amara were on it.

"You two look snug," Lance smiled. "How'd ya sleep?"

"Who said we were sleeping?" I teasingly replied. Pietro and I let out a laugh before he gave me a kiss. "Don't worry, guys. I'm just joking."

"Ugh," I heard a female voice cry out in disgust.

"If you don't like looking, you don't have to Wanda," I said.

"Like I'd want to see some X-Man swap spit with my brother," Wanda spat the word brother as if it were painful to say.

I saw Pietro tense up, twisted around to face her and said "You could cut your brother some slack. Pietro never wanted to leave you there. And it's unfair that your treating him like your father."

"Don't try to analyze me," Wanda snapped. "You don't know anything about me."

"That may be partially true," I shrugged. "But we share a common feeling: hatred toward Magneto. And once I find him, I'm gonna end him."

"Taking down Magneto is my job and mine alone!" Wanda snarled. "He deserves to pay for leaving me in that hell hole."

"You hate Magneto for abandoning you," I said. "I hate him for something much, much worse."

"What could be worse than leaving your own daughter in an insane asylum?" Wanda asked.

"He killed my brother," I growled. I stood up, unzipped my X-men suit and pulled it down to reveal my back. "And he did this to me! So I understand if you hate him but no one will _ever_ hate him more than I do." 

Wanda stared at the scars with a look of slight pity and sympathy before tearing her eyes away and staring out of the window. I fixed my suit before taking my seat. I could really feel where she was coming from. Magneto is a horrible person and shouldn't be allowed to continue living after all the things he's done. This battle determines the fate of both myself, Wanda and the innocent people Magneto has harmed in one way or another.

"Pietro, there's something I need to tell you before we go into battle," I said. " I just want you to know that we've been through a lot and nothing will ever change the love I feel for you. "

"Why the sudden need to tell me you love me?" Pietro questioned.

"Ever since I woke up this morning, I've had this feeling in my stomach that means that something horrible might happen," I replied. "Yeah, yeah, I know I'm getting really mushy and sentimental but I wanted to let you know this just in case something bad does happen."

Pietro responded with no words only his lips and said "I love you too, Semina."

'I just wish I didn't have to do this,' he thought. Lucky for Pietro, Mina didn't pick that up.

After landing in an abandoned factory lot, we split into groups to search for Magneto. The first thing I noticed were the five metal orbs neatly lined up in the center of the lot. Looks like Magneto brought some back up. I would've used my telepathy to Magneto already but that stupid helmet of his was blocking me.

"Avalanche, Scarlet Witch, go check the inside of the warehouse while Pietro and I check the perimeter," I said as I flew up.

"Since when can you fly?" Avalanche asked.

"Since three weeks ago," I replied. "Now go. I want to hurry up so I can torture that bastard...slowly."

I flew above the warehouse and scanned it and the entire lot from a birds eye view. Still no movement. I began my descent back to the ground and landed next to Pietro and in front of a metal silo.

"Have you found anything yet?" I hopefully asked.

"Nope, wherever Magneto is, he's not here," Quicksilver shrugged.

"Let me scan the area again," I said as I put my fingers to my temples.

That's when I sensed the minds. I felt them coming from the silo and flew toward it. The presence of people grew stronger and I knew I had found some of Magneto's back up but it was too late. There was an explosion and next thing I knew all things metal were being thrown around.

(Semina, I'm so sorry), Pietro told me through our link. (But I have to do this.)

(Sorry? Sorry for what?) I desperately asked. (What're you doing? Pietro, talk to me!)

Just then I heard the three words that made everything make sense.

"IT'S A TRAP!" the Scarlet Witch yelled.

I spun around just in time to see Pietro speed away just around the time all hell broke loose. Time slowed down as I felt the heart in my chest tighten then shatter. How could he do this to me? Disbelief, betrayal and rage rose in me as I thought 'He's been working with Magneto this whole time?'

The metal silo in front of me was disassembled, bringing me back from my hurt, and in it was Sabertooth and three men I didn't recognize. All I knew was that one of them had the power of fire manipulation. I tried backing away from him but tripped over my own two feet. The blazing firewall in front of me rose in height and so did my fear.

* * *

Atop the building Magneto was on he raised his eyebrow in curiosity. "Tell me, Pietro. Is Semina afraid of fire?"

"Yes, she has pyrophobia," Quicksilver replied.

"Interesting," Magneto said as he watched the battle closer.

'I'll have to remember that for future use,' Magneto thought. 'The most primitive form of heat is her worst fear and a new way for me to have her finally bow down to me.'

* * *

"What's wrong, little girl?" Sabertooth grunted. "Afraid of a little fire?"

"N-no," I sputtered as I rose to my feet as rubbed the tears away. "And I'm not gonna let it get in the way of this fight. So what do you say, Sabertooth? Rematch? Or is the little pussy cat too scared?"

Sabertooth roared and jumped for me but I flew out of his reach.

"Don't even try that again," I scoffed. "I've learned some new tricks from the last time we fought."

I threw my arms above my head and drew water from wherever I could. I coated my body in it and made a suit of ice that was smooth around my body but sharp to anyone who touched me. I made the fists into maces and flew toward Sabertooth and delivered a good solid punch in the face that knocked him back a couple feet and cut his face pretty badly. I converted the ice back into water and sent a wave toward him that swept him up in it's intensity. The wave knocked him straight into a steel garter, temporarily knocking him out.

"Who's the weak one now?" I smirked as I wiped sweat from my brow. That attack really took a lot out of me and I don't know why.

I felt heat surround me and spun around to see a giant flaming bat coming toward me. I just stared at it without moving before I felt cool raindrops on my face and the fire bat disappeared. I looked up to see Storm disarming the guy with the red hair. Still in a daze, I failed to notice Sabertooth skulking up behind me until Beast told me to duck and tackled him to the ground.

"Go find Magneto!" Beast yelled as he tussled with Sabertooth. "I'll handle him!"

"Right!" I yelled as I flew back into the air to look for my enemy.

I could barely fly straight because I could keep my mind off what Pietro had done and what he's doing. But wait a second. If I'm linked to Pietro, I can track his movements and find his location which means I'll find Magneto because it's pretty obvious that's who Pietro is with right now. I stopped in mid flight and located Pietro's location directly ahead and straight up.

"I've found you," I growled with hate.

I flew in between two buildings which now began to break and crumple under the force of my now haywire telekinesis . I have no intention on suppressing the anger that's been pent up for so many years and I'm ready to let it all loose. I looked down and saw that Wanda had found them too and thought to myself that we really were alike in more than one way. I'm not going to tell the X-Men I've found him because I want to deal with Magneto and his traitorous son _personally_. Before I could fly any further, an invisible force sent me flying onto the ground. The impact wasn't the worst part because as soon as I fell the ground below me caved and I fell in the pit, completely forgetting I could fly.

* * *

A man in a black sweater walked alongside on of his agents who was telling him the status of his new secret weapon.

"Is the Sentinel ready?" the man asked.

"Not yet," the agent replied. "It'll be fully operational and awaiting your command in about five minutes."

"Hurry up and get it back online!" the man yelled.

"Yes sir, Doctor Trask," the agent replied.

* * *

As soon as me along with what seemed like everyone else stopped falling, I heard guns cock and my vision cleared to reveal a metal room in which we were surrounded by at least fifty guards.

"Hold your fire!" a voice that I swore I'd never forget yell.

My eyes snapped up to a middle aged man with a salt and pepper mustache and cold black eyes. The same black eyes that looked into mine two years before he took her away from me.

"You!" I whispered between my clenched teeth as I stared daggers at him. I stood up despite the guns all aimed at me and shouted "It's taken me two long years to find you but I finally have!"

"Semina, get back down!" Storm urged.

I ignored her and yelled "WHERE IS SHE?"

"Where is who?" Trask asked, his attention piqued.

"Where is my aunt?" I shouted. "Tell me where she is!"

"I don't know who you're talking ab-" Trask began before he took a closer look at my face. "Oh, now I see the resemblance. You look a lot like my test subject."

"You sick bastard!" I snarled. "Where is my aunt? I am not gonna ask again. If you keep me waiting any longer, you're gonna regret it."

"I'm not afraid of an abomination like yourself," Trask hissed as he snapped his fingers. The guards lined up there shots and awaited his next command. "I'm just one snap away from having you join your aunt."

When he said that something inside me just snapped. My head began to pound and I felt my anger increase to dangerous levels. A scary but intoxicating surge of power hit me as I stretched my arms out in front of me and made a motion like crushing paper with my hands. The guns in the room all flattened and turned into crushed heaps of useless metal. I pushed my arms out and every guard in the room flew into the wall. I flew up to Trask and started squeezing his throat with my telekinesis.

"Semina! Stop!" Nightcrawler yelled.

"What's going on with her?" Shadowcat asked in fear.

"Yeah, it's really creepy, yo," Toad cringed. "Her eyes are glowing white and everything!"

"It's like something out of a horror movie," Blob exclaimed.

"Tell. Me. Where. She. Is!" I demanded as I squeezed harder. In my head this felt wrong but it strangely felt right. Like what I was doing was the only way to solve this. It felt natural. The terror in his eyes and panicked thoughts made me smile menacingly and squeeze harder.

Before he could say anything, I heard heavy thudding footsteps approach. A giant red robot broke through the wall and I turned my attention back to him and menacingly said "If my aunt is dead, so are you" before releasing my grasp on him. I flew back down to everyone else and got into a fighting stance before I felt the ground shake once more. We, all the mutants and the "Sentinel" as it was called, were brought back to ground level where it began to attack us with lasers.

"Look out!" I yelled as the Sentinel aimed another laser at us.

We all jumped out of the way as Storm flew up and sent a bolt of lighting at it. The Sentinel took little damage and produced more guns from it's metal arms. It's line of fire backed us into a city where people ran and screamed in terror as buildings collapsed and explosions rang out. This is horrible. Not only do we have to defend ourselves, but now we have to worry about the humans getting hurt too. As I tried my best to dodge lasers, I couldn't help but notice a little girl crying and helplessly looking around for her mother. A laser aimed at Toad was headed straight for the girl as he jumped out of the way.

'Aw, great,' I groaned.

I quickly got in front of the girl and put a shield up to deflect the laser from harming her. I looked back at the little girl who gave me a smile of gratitude. She called me a superhero before her mom showed up and called me a monster and snatching her away. So much for superhero.

"I gotta take out that damn cannon," I mumbled as I tried to devise a plan. "Beast, I need you to trust what I'm about to do and launch me as hard as you can into the Sentinel."

Beast looked at my serious expression and grabbed me by my waist and threw me like a javelin. I flipped my body forward to make myself spin as I gathered water around my body in wheel shaped. I turned the water wheel into a buzz saw made of super sharp ice and flew out of it's ring shape. While it spun at incredible speeds, I aimed it toward the Sentinel's cannon which got cut clean in half.

The Sentinel then opened its wrist and shot some type of green goo at me in retaliation. I tried to dodge it but it nailed me in the back and I lost all movement of my body. And that's when everything went black.

On the roof of the building

"It seems that the Sentinel has taken out Semina," Magneto said. Pietro snapped his head toward the street to see Semina on the ground covered in a green crystallized goo. He couldn't help but feel guilty or feel worried about her. "She did put up quite a fight."

"What's that goo?" Quicksilver asked.

"It's a special type of gel that hardens around a person rendering them motionless," Magneto explained. "Semina's fine for now but I doubt she will be for long once they take her to the lab."

"They're gonna experiment on her?" Quicksilver exclaimed.

He took a tentative step forward before Magneto said "Take one more step closer and the deal is broken. Or have you forgotten our arrangement?"

Quicksilver sighed and said "No, father. I haven't."

Back at the Mansion

After narrowly escaping the explosion of the X-Mansion, Anthony breathed out a sigh of relief once he saw the X-Jet touch down.

"Scott, they're back!" Anthony shouted as he pointed toward the now ruined mansion grounds. The group of weary mutants ran toward the X-Jet.

"It's a good thing too," LaToya said as she tried to comfort a terrified Sasha. "Mina needs to calm Sasha down. Poor little puppy is scared out of her mind."

They walked over to the X-men who had surprised looks on their faces. The entire mansion had been destroyed in a fiercesome explosion. Anthony and LaToya scanned the people who piled out of the X-jet and became puzzled when they couldn't find their little sister. Scott picked the professor out of his wheelchair in anger after accusing him of initiating the Defcon 4 sequence at the mansion. Anthony and Kurt restrained him as Scott dropped the professor on the ground. Shock didn't even begin to describe everyone's face when the professor rose to his feet and morphed into Mystique.

"Mother?" Kurt exclaimed.

"You've been impersonating the professor the entire time?" Jean questioned in disbelief.

"Oh look at that, the beauty _does_ have brains," Mystique snidely said. "That's correct."

"Do you realize what you've done?" Storm shouted. "Members of both of our teams have been taken by the government. Is that something to be proud of?"

"I wasn't expecting that to happen when I worked out this clever rouse," Mystique sighed.

Anthony looked around the crowd of confused mutants and realized what happened to Semina. He stalked over to Mystique while he transformed into his rock form and bent down into her face. "My little sister is in some government lab because of you?"

"Anthony, don't," Jean said. "Hurting her won't break Semina out."

"But it'll certainly make me feel better," Anthony growled.

"Don't you think I'm just as upset that Blob was captured as well?" Mystique barked. "And I think it'd be wise if you would get out of my face."

"Wait, just Blob?" LaToya asked as she stepped in between them. "What about Pietro? I don't see him here either."

"You mean the traitor?" Lance angrily spat. "He's with Magneto."

"Yeah, Pietro dropped us to work with ol' bucket head," Toad said.

"What do you mean?" LaToya pried further.

"It turns out this whole 'mission' was a trap laid out by Magneto that Pietro knew all about," Lance explained. "As soon as the battle started he was no where to be found. Turns out he's joined his father's team."

"And your sister didn't take the news very well," Mystique chuckled. "According to everyone else, Semina has unleashed a much more dangerous side of herself. I guess a little heartbreak was in order to unleash her true potential as a mutant."

In the government lab

As soon as the hard green goo surrounding me broke, I took a much needed breath of oxygen in and looked around. There I was stuck in some government facility being caged and guarded like some animal. I touched the thick plexiglass window in front of me but recoiled when I saw the guards take aim at me. I looked around and saw Wolverine laying on a metal table being restrained by his arms and legs. I closed my eyes and searched my memory to remember what happened. Scenes of recent events came across my mind like a backwards slide show. Getting captured, battling a sentinel, confronting Bolivar Trask, finding Magneto, getting betrayed by Pietro.

'He's going to regret ever doing this to me,' I bitterly thought.

"Hey, would you look at that?" one of the guards said as he pointed at me. "She looks just like the other mutant we're holding."

The second guard studied my face and said "Yeah, she does. What a resemblance!"

My eyes widened as I came to the realization, 'Aunt Viv is _here_.'

A/N: So what did you think of my take on the Day Of Reckoning? Click the little review button and tell me! In the next chapter, I push Semina to the edge and end it with the most shocking ending! Read the next chappie to find out what happens!


	27. When It All Falls Down

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I really do want more, so spread the word of my story and help me out. Here's the new chappie. The ending might make a lot of people sad or angry with me but...eh. ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution or any song used in this story, so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

When It All Falls Down

(Semina, are you awake?) Rogue telepathically asked me.

(Rogue? Yeah, I'm awake,) I replied. (Where are we?)

(Area 51), Rogue replied.

(Boy, that isn't a cliché), I chuckled. (Who else is here with us besides Logan?)

(Beast, Evan and Blob,) Rogue told me. (There are guards everywhere and this plexiglass is hard to break.)

(Well, I'm getting out of here,) I said. (My aunt is here and we're not leaving without her.)

(What're you going to do?) Rogue inquired.

(Just watch,) I replied.

I looked around the lab, located the scientist nearest to me and took control over his mind.

(Now, I want you to listen well,) I began. (You're going to repeat after me and do what I tell you to do. Nod once if you understand.)

The scientist gave a nod and I continued. (Repeat after me 'This mutant appears to be telepathic. She should be placed in the holding cell with the other. We have to hurry before she can attempt to read our thoughts. Guards, take her away!' )

The guards looked at each other before opening my plexiglass cell and grabbing me by both of my arms. I struggled for effect before I felt the cold barrel of a gun jammed into the back of my head by one of the guards.

"Stay still, mutie," he barked.

They began escorting me out of the lab and I could hear Logan thrashing around on the table. I hate to have him worry so much but I know what I'm doing. I gave a coy smile to myself as the guards swiped a card that opened the door to a room similar to the one I was just taken from except there was a large metal containment unit on the far side of the room. One of the guards typed in the passcode to unlock it and the two other guards shoved me in. The door closed with a loud metallic slam making the only other person occupying the prison jump. The woman looked up at me, relief and comfort flooding her battered face and scuttled over to me.

"Semina," Vivian hoarsely cried.

"Aunt Viv," I exclaimed as I hugged her tightly. "I thought I'd never find you!"

"You got my telepathic message," Vivian said. "I knew you'd come to find me but I never expected you to get captured by that monster."

"Bolivar Trask," I growled as my aunt nodded.

"That man has kept me locked in here for two years," Vivian spat with hatred. "Experimenting on me, putting me through tests, torturing me all because he thinks mutants are a threat to society."

"How badly are you hurt?" I asked with concern.

"Besides brusies that have accumulated over the years, I've fought through it all," Vivian sighed. "But there's something you need to know. Bolivar Trask has-"

"Has what?" I asked. Aunt Viv's eyes motioned toward the camera in the corner of the room and I understood. I pointed toward my head but she shook her head in disagreement.

"That doesn't work in here," Vivian sighed.

"It doesn't," I paled. "What do you mean?"

"This cell is made out of a special metal that blocks all forms of telepathy," she explained. "We can't send out messages and we can't receive any. They designed after Magneto's helmet and Cain Marco's as well. Why do you think that I haven't been able to contact you?"

"I thought you were..." I trailed off before choking back a sob.

"Oh, baby," Vivain cooed as she hugged me again. "It'll take a little more than some twisted mutant hating scientist to get rid of me."

"So only telepathy gets blocked?" I doubled checked as she confirmed it with a nod. "What about other powers?"

"As long as their not telepathic, they should work," Vivian said.

"Then we're in business," I smiled as I looked at the security camera and crushed it with my telekinesis.

Vivian raised an eyebrow and said "Since when are you telekinetic?"

"I got it after you got kidnapped," I said. "Now what did you want to tell me?"

"Right, Trask has spent years trying to make a serum that could find and eliminate the X-gene," Vivian began. "He's used my blood to begin the process. It's failed time and time again but as of last week, he's finally mixed up the right chemicals to perfect it."

"E-eliminate the _x-gene_?" I sputtered in shock. "There's a way to get rid of our powers? Does it work?"

"It seems so," Vivian frowned. "He's already tested it on me and I haven't been able to use my powers even when he took me out of this prison. But it's possible that the serum is just suppressing the genes making the effects could only be temporary."

"You don't have you powers anymore?" I asked in disbelief. "So you're just a normal human now."

Vivian nodded and I could see the despair flicker across my aunt's face. It looked like she were ready to cry but I couldn't tell for sure through her puffy and baggy, purple ringed eyes.

I clenched my fist until I felt my fingernails dig into the palms. "After I deal with Magneto, Trask is next on my list!"

"What did Magneto do to you?" Vivian asked.

I stared at her dumbly before saying "You don't know?"

"Nope," Vivian shrugged.

"Okay let me start from beginning," I said. "Which starts six years ago..."

I told Aunt Viv everything that I learned Magneto did to Andre and she looked more shocked and betrayed than upset.

"And to top it all off he did this to me," I said as I showed her the scars on my back.

"He sent Sabertooth after you, didn't he?" Vivian asked.

"Yup, now I'm stuck with these on my back forever," I snarled as I zipped my suit up which for some reason has become a little snug. Maybe all those sweets are adding pounds to my body.

"Why would he do that?" she asked.

The thought of Pietro was enough to send me into silent tears as I showed her the glimmering white gold locket around my neck. Aunt Viv opened it up and smiled.

"Oh, look at how big Pietro has gotten," Vivian sighed. "He's so handsome now."

"You know him?" I sniffled.

"I knew him and Wanda as babies," Vivian said. "I never thought you two would be dating."

"Used to be dating," I cried. "I can't stand the thought or sight of him now."

"Why not?" Vivian asked.

I explained what just happened as well as everything Pietro has ever done, both good and bad.

"Oh, Semina," Vivian sighed as she stroked my hair. "It's going to be okay. Sounds to me that Pietro loves you just as much as you love him. He must be doing this for a reason."

"Yeah, himself," I scoffed. "He's nothing more than a selfish coward."

Aunt Viv sighed and said "You're still young Semina, but in time you'll see that everything in life has a way of playing out in you favor. In the end anyway."

"I hope so," I pouted.

A loud blaring alarm rang throughout the entire facility.

"That must mean the X-Men are here," I smiled. I rose to my feet and stood in front of the door. "Now we have the perfect distraction to escape. Stand back."

I put my hands out in front of me and concentrated on the metal door until it began to bend inward. I kept at it until the door couldn't handle the force any longer and was blown off its hinges by my telekinesis. I felt a little light-headed but pushed through as Aunt Viv and I ran out of the cell and into the room where about a dozen guards were.

"Freeze!" one of the guards yelled.

"Sure thing," I smiled. I collected water from the air and froze every guard in place. I grabbed my aunts hand and guided her back to the lab where I found everyone else escaping. I stopped in my tracks when I remembered I forgot to do something.

"Rogue, take my aunt to the jet," I yelled. "There's something I have to do first. If I'm not back in the next five minutes, send Wolverine after me!"

Before I could get a response, I dashed back to the lab with the frozen guards and searched around couple of file cabinets before I found the file I was looking for. After retrieving it, I used my telekinesis to destroy of all the chemicals around the lab as well as the supply of serum stored in a mini fridge. Satisfied with my work, I flew to the lab I woke up in. Running would take to long to reach everyone else so I opted for the faster way. In the rush I was in, I failed to notice the guard behind me who was pointing a special gun at me until I felt something sharp poke me in the arm. I immediately fell out of the air and landed with a hard thump. I stood up and looked at my arm and saw a dart filled with a greenish liquid emptying into my bloodstream. I hastily took it out but it had already dispensed all of the green liquid into my body. My legs buckled underneath me and everything in the room started spinning. My heart beat sped up, sweat dripped from my face and every sound become more and more distant. The last thing I remember before passing out is clutching the folder tighter and seeing Wolverine run toward me.

* * *

I groaned as I clutched my aching stomach and ribcage and flickered my eyes open. I was in the XM Velocity in what I assumed to be a makeshift hospital room.

"I see you're awake," Beast said.

"What happened?" I asked. "Where's Aunt Viv?"

"I'm right here," Vivian said. "Thank goodness you're okay."

"What were you thinking, kid?" Logan snapped. "You could've been killed!"

"But I'm not," I smirked as I swung my legs off of the bed. "I had to get those files."

I put my feet on the floor to stand but my legs felt like Jello-O. Wolverine steadied my and I said "I'm fine, Logan."

I slowly limped out of the jet to be faced with my brother and sister, Bobby, Rogue, Kitty, Kurt, Jean Scott, Storm and Evan.

"Where's everyone else?" I asked.

"We don't know," Jean shrugged. "We got separated when the police came."

"What do you mean?" I asked. Jean sadly pointed off the cliff we were on toward the destroyed mansion. Police, CIA, FBI and other government officials swarmed the area like ants at a picnic. "Oh my god! What happened to the mansion? Why is there police everywhere?"

"Mystique happened," Scott growled. "She impersonated the professor to get access to the mansion and blew it up."

'That no good double crosser,' I angrily thought. 'This was never part of the deal we made. She must've taken the professor when he was visiting Wanda at the asylum. All we need to figure out is where she took him.'

"Where's the professor?" I asked, wanting to know if they knew where he was.

Everyone shrugged their shoulders with dejected looks on their faces.

"Wait! Where's Sasha?" I asked in a fit of panic.

"It's okay," LaToya soothed as she opened her jacket to reveal a sleeping Sasha. "She and everyone else has been so worried about you."

"I'm fine," I said. "We have to go find the professor and the students and-"

"We cannot go _anywhere_," Storm interrupted. "The entire world knows we are mutants."

"The secret's out?" I questioned. "But how?"

"Live footage of us fighting the Sentinel," Kurt said.

"They've identified all of us," Rogue added.

"They know our names, where we live, who our parents are," Kitty exclaimed. "Our faces are plastered on news channels all over the world!"

"All of Bayville is shunning us, too," Bobby piped in.

"They're treating us like freaks," Anthony angrily snapped. "There's nothing wrong with us!"

"The humans seem to think so," LaToya sighed.

"We need to go find the professor," I said turning back toward the jet. "He can set things straight with the public!"

"We don't know where he is," Logan gruffly said.

"But we can't stay here either," Jean said. "I'm sensing about fifty minds headed our way."

I put my hand to my temple and tried to sense them but I couldn't get...anything.

"Are you sure?" I asked. "I can't sense them. Come to think of it, I haven't been able to sense anything since I woke up."

The adults all got quiet and grim looks struck their faces.

"What's with the faces?" I asked. Logan frowned and put a comforting had on my shoulder.

"There's no easy way to say this but-" Beast slowly began until my aunt blurted "You got hit with the serum I was telling you about!"

"What?" I whispered. "You can't be serious."

I wobbled over to a tree and tried to extract the water out of it but nothing happened. I tried lifting a stone with my telekinesis but nothing happened. I tried sensing someone's emotions but nothing happened.

"My powers are gone," I chocked out. "I-I can't sense anything or use my telekinesis or anything else. No, this can't be happening!"

I dropped to my knees and started hyperventilating. I kept muttering the word "no" over and over again until I broke down into angry and confused tears.

"Semina, we have to go!" Vivian urged.

She pulled me off the floor and escorted me onto the XM Velocity and buckled me into my seat. Pietro betrayed me, the mansion destroyed, it's hunting season on mutants and I'm powerless. Could life get any worse from here?

The Next Day

'Oh, yay,' I bitterly thought. 'Hiding in a cave from the government. This is really how I wanted to spend my Sunday.'

After flying aimlessly around for a couple hours we found a cave that was secluded from human life and covered by trees. The perfect amount of cover for mutants on the run. Aunt Viv managed to calm down my hysteria from finding out I lost my powers but I haven't talked to anyone or moved from my spot in the furthest part of the cave since we touched down. I've just been rubbing Sasha's back and fingering the locket around my neck.

"Semina, ve have to talk," Kurt said as he sat next to me. "I'm vorried about you."

"Don't be," I sighed. "There's no point."

"Vell, I am," Kurt pouted. "I don't know what it's like to lose your powers but I can imagine it feels horrible."

When I didn't respond he continued. "I can tell zhat losing your powers isn't the only thing that's bothering you. Vhat Pietro did was inexcusable and I've tolerated him long enough. If he ever hurts you again, he's going to have to deal vith me!"

I looked at Kurt's serious expression and macho man stance with teary eyes and started laughing. "Kurt, you are _the_ best friend a girl could ever have." I gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek and laid on his shoulder. "But you don't have to worry about Pietro anymore. I refuse to take him back after what he did."

"Good, you deserve better," Kurt nodded.

"Kurt, why do you think he did it?" I asked as I squeezed my locket tighter.

"I don't know," Kurt shrugged. "Vhtaever zhe reason, it's shouldn't have been enough to betray you like zhat."

"Kurt, Evan needs you to find reception on his little T.V," LaToya said as she walked over to us. "Let me comfort my sister."

"Okay," Kurt sighed as he got up. He gave my sister a kiss on her cheek and I couldn't help but smile but also feel a twinge of jealousy.

"You two are cute," I admitted as LaToya took Kurt's place as my pillow. "I remember when Pietro and I were that cute."

"Are you gonna dwell on that loser forever?" LaToya asked. "He's no longer worth your time."

"I know it's just that I did something that I can't undo," I blurted.

"What?" LaToya asked with hungry eyes. She just loved juicy secrets.

"Um, I kinda linked our minds," I quietly said mentioning one of the things we did after the dance, conveniently leaving out the more...physical thing.

"You did what?" LaToya exclaimed. Aunt Viv overheard and also exclaimed the same thing.

"Semina, you know how dangerous those are," Vivian groaned. "What were you thinking?"

"It was a spur of the moment thing," I shrugged. "Since I don't have my telepathy I can't break it. Not like I could've broken it in the first place. But it's there forever now."

"What made you do that?" LaToya asked.

"We wanted to look into each others past because it was too painful to talk about," I explained. "For two people who seem pretty normal, we're pretty fuc- I mean messed up."

"You're still young," Aunt Viv said. "Plenty of boys will be begging to date you."

"Not anymore," I scoffed. "Now that everyone knows I'm a mutant, they're gonna hate me."

"That's true," LaToya agreed before I shot her a glare. "But you need to forget about him."

'After what I did with Pietro, I can _never_ just forget about him,' I though glumly as I thought back to our intimate moment at our secret spot.

"Hey everyone, the hearings are on," Evan called out.

Once Bobby made an ice T.V to project the small image of the smaller one, we watched as Storm and Beast basically crashed and burned answering the ridiculous questions. Wolverine came flying straight into the makeshift T.V, shattering it.

"What happened?" Jean asked.

"Yeah and where is my candy?" I asked. Everyone looked at me and I said "Don't look at me like that! I need to something sweet to eat."

"Military choppers," Wolverine gruffly said ignoring me.

"And it won't take 'em long to find us," Rogue said just as they flew in.

"Now that's just unfair," Anthony said.

"Think we're gonna have to take 'em down?" LaToya asked as she cracked her knuckles.

"Doubtful," I said as Scott argued with Logan about what to do. After deciding to run, Logan angrily began to storm away. "Wait, Logan. You can't leave."

"Sorry, kid," Logan grunted. "But Cyclops is calling the shots."

"But I don't want you to go," I said as I bit my lip to keep from crying. Everyone seems to be leaving me these days.

"I have to," Logan said as he hopped on his motorcycle.

"Take me with you then," I suggested.

"You're more safe here with them than me," Logan replied. "Look, you're tough Semina, with or without your powers. You'll be fine. Just keep fighting, okay?"

I nodded my head before Logan sped out of the cave. The rest of the X-Men headed outside to "defend themselves without hurting the humans" as Scott put it. Since I had no powers, Aunt Viv, Sasha and I went directly to the XM Velocity where I started prepping for take off before Scott came and took over. I went to a seat but once I sat down I winced in pain. For some reason my lower abdomen has been having these weird flashes of pain. I'm sure it was nothing though. I just figured they were cramps. Once everyone finished taking care of the military choppers, we were once again airborne and headed nowhere particular.

I stared out the window thinking about nothing and everything until I decided to finish watching the hearings. In the middle of the hearing, a breaking news flash was shown.

"Oh my god," I loudly exclaimed. "Jean, turn on the T.V."

Jean quickly did as instructed and everyone else gasped in disbelief. "It's Juggernaut!" Jean exclaimed.

"What's Cain doing out of the paralysis bio fluid that keeps him dormant?" Vivian asked.

"You know Juggernaut?" Kitty questioned.

"Who do you think put him in there in the first place?" Vivian smirked.

My face fell as I realized "Without the professor, who's gonna stop him? Aunt Viv and I could've done it if we had our powers."

My lower abdomen started hurting again and I clutched it in pain and winced. The pain is starting to get worse but I was trying my best to ignore it. Luckily no one noticed. I didn't want them worrying about me any more than they have to. I felt the jet get turned around in the opposite direction and assumed that we were going to fight Juggernaut. I hope everyone knows what they're getting themselves into. Moments later we arrived at the dam Juggernaut was destroying and the X-Men quickly went to stop him. I raised an eyebrow when I saw my sister getting up.

"Where are you going?" I asked. "Don't even think you're going to fight him! LaToya, you haven't been trained on how to handle him!"

"Neither has Bobby," she protested.

"I'm not related to Bobby, now am I?" I snapped. "I don't need you going out to get yourself hurt."

"Semina, stop treating me like I'm too weak to do this," LaToya said. "I can do this! And I'm going to fight Juggernaut no matter what you say."

I got up to stop her but Aunt Viv sat me back down.

"Let her go, Semina," Vivian said. "I know you're worried about her but she can handle herself."

"I just don't want anyone else getting hurt," I cried out.

"Everyone will be fine," Vivian reassured.

I nodded my head in agreement then bit down on my lip because another wave of pain hit me.

"Whoa, what's wrong, baby?" Vivian asked going full on maternal. For a woman with no kids, she sure knows how to take care of one.

"N-nothing," I said through the pain. "It's nothing."

"You and I both know it's not nothing," Vivian retorted. "Are you having cramps?"

"I'm not sure," I sighed. "They've never felt like this before. Maybe it's a side effect from the serum."

"Maybe," Vivian shrugged. "But this never happened to me."

The pain dulled down and I was grateful for it. The pain was happening more frequently and becoming more painful with each wave that hit me.

"Can we go watch how they're are doing?" I asked as I gestured toward the window.

"Sure, why not?" Vivian smiled. "I want to see how then new generation of X-Men get things done anyway."

They managed to stop the dam from bursting but I grimly watched the X-men do all they could to stop Juggernaut. My brother managed to exchange a few blows with him but there's only so much super strength can do against super strength. Siren stood in front of him and projected a scream that managed to make him clutch his head in pain but she could only scream so much before she realized the others were in pain too. Juggernaut stalked up to her, grabbed her wrist and flung her off the dam. If it wasn't for Nightcrawler teleporting to save her, she would've fallen into the water below.

I saw Cyclops reach for his visor and gave an excited gasp as I saw him take it off completely. Releasing a wave of red laser energy from his eyes. I've always wanted to see what Scott's powers were like without that visor containing them. It's amazing how much destruction it can cause.

"Amazing," I marveled. "That should be enough to stop Juggernaut!"

Juggernaut walking straight through Cyclops' attack without so much as a scratch proved me wrong. While Aunt Viv and I continued watching through the window, Juggernaut looked up and his eyes squinted in rage at the sight of us. We quickly ducked down and I asked "What are the chances that he saw us?"

"Pretty damn likely," Vivian replied.

Outside I felt the thud of his heavy footsteps and he yelled "Isn't this a surprise? Two people who managed to stop me all on one jet. Ha ha! Come out and play, Vivian and Semina!"

"This has got to be the most inconvenient time for me to not have my powers," I groaned. "Why couldn't this have happened when I was in a coma or something?"

"You were in a coma?" Vivian exclaimed. "When we get outta this, we have so much catching up to do."

I smiled at my aunt before I felt the entire jet get picked up. I grabbed the seat in front of me to keep from flailing around and my aunt did the same. Sasha hopped into my lap and hung on as best as a puppy could. Juggernaut threw the jet over the edge of the dam and I thought it was the end until I felt us stop in mid fall. I looked out the window to see Jean stopping the jet from falling and floating us over to the perch we landed on. At the same time, Rogue and Iceman finished off Juggernaut who was now frozen solid and sinking into the water below the dam. Anthony and LaToya rushed on the jet, grabbed me and hugged me tightly. Anthony was still in his rock form so it was _really_ tight.

"We thought we were gonna lose you," LaToya said as she kissed my forehead.

"Who would've thought Juggernaut was the type to hold a grudge?" Anthony sarcastically said. "Are you two okay?"

"Fine," Vivian said as I nodded my head. I couldn't speak because another flash of pain hit me. Neither of my siblings noticed, I guess they think I'm in shock or something.

Jean, Scott and Rogue reentered the jet with everyone else. After Rogue absorbed Juggernaut, she finally figured out where the professor was.

At Stokes Maximum Security Prison

We were all relieved to see the professor unharmed for the most part, especially my aunt who hasn't seen him in years. Mystique must've put Professor X in here in Juggernauts place which I assumed she released again. I was standing by the door when I saw Logan come in wearing a new, sleek X-Man suit.

"Logan!" I happily exclaimed as I hugged him before realizing how uncomfortable he was. "Glad to see you back."

"Glad to be back kid," Logan gruffly said. He walked over to tell Scott 'good job' which was surprising given how much they fight. As soon as the professor had woken up, Aunt Viv, Scott and Jean rushed over to his side.

I smiled at the sight but stopped when another wave of pain hit me. But this one was different. It was the most intense and glowered with white hot pain. I drew in a gasp and I felt the world become dizzy and blurry. My lower abdomen felt like it was being stabbed with a thousand sharp knives and my legs became numb under me. Buckling to the floor under the pain, my face got hot and sweat protruded from every part of my body. I tried to even out my breathing but I couldn't stop panting and wheezing. Tears of pain fell from my eyes as I balled my fist in utter agony. It was only matter of time before I felt something warm and slick run down my legs. I don't know what was happening but this pain is like nothing I've never felt before.

Logan who was helping attend to the professor stopped when he caught the smell of blood in the air. He turned around to see Semina on the floor writhing in pain. Logan, forgetting everything else happening rushed over to her side and cradled her in his arms. The smell of blood was getting stronger as more poured out her. The source of the blood was coming from between her legs.

"Logan, I'm scared," I frantically sobbed as more pain came and I clutched my lower abdomen again. "God, it hurts so bad! I-I don't know what's happening to me."

Vivain also rushed over and cradle my head. Worry didn't even begin to describe the look on her face or Logan's. I don't think I've ever seen him look this concerned about anyone.

"Semina! Wake up!" Logan urged as he saw me drifting in and out of consciousness. "Come on, ya gotta stay with me, kid!"

"It hurts too much," I panted before one last shock of pain shot through me. My body couldn't take it anymore and I slowly slipped into the darkness and went completely limp in Logan's arms.

"Get her to the jet!" Logan barked. "We gotta get her to the med bay! NOW!"

Everyone filed out of the room toward the jet in a panic while Logan cradled Semina's limp body in his arms.

'You just gotta make it through this kid,' Logan thought.

Several hours later in the med bay

The med bay waiting room was thick with silence save the occasionally sniffle. If the med bay wasn't so deep in the sub levels, Beast wouldn't have had an efficient medical room to treat Semina in. When Beast came out of the room Semina was being treated in, everyone saw that tears were in his eyes and expected the worse thing possible.

"Hank, how is she?" Professor X asked.

"She's stable," Beast said as he chocked back a sob. "But something terrible has happened."

"She's not in another coma, is she?" Kitty sniffled.

"N-no Kitty," Beast replied before taking a huge breath to expel the quiver in his voice. "The serum that Semina was injected with has not only stripped her of her powers but it just cost the life of her unborn baby."

A/N: Ooh, I'm so horrible! First the news of a miscarriage and now a cliffhanger. I think I need a lot of reviews so I can hurry and and update this. Click the little review button and get to it!


	28. Numb

A/N: I liked those reviews I got. =D I liked them a lot and I definitely want them to continue! My twisted plan for Semina's life is almost complete *evil laughter* Here's the new chapter! ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution or any song used in this story, so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

Numb

Beast told me what happened to me and I lay in the bed of the med bay with my back turned toward the door, just staring at the wall. There are no thoughts running through my head and no emotions that I can feel, in fact I feel...nothing. The pain has dulled and the tears that are supposed to be running down my face never started. The only sound filling the room is the steady beat of my heart monitor and the drip of the liquid in the I.V bag. Everyone has been asking to come in but Beast said to "give me some time" and that they could see me in a couple of weeks. I scoffed at the way Beast was trying to ebb the worry. If I really need time, it's going to take much longer than a couple weeks and even then I'll refuse to see anyone. I touched my stomach, the place where my child would have been growing, and deeply sighed. The first thought since I woke up just popped into my head: 'You can't miss someone you never met, right?'

Three and a half weeks later

"Beast how is she today?" Anthony asked. "Has she talked or moved yet?"

"I'm afraid not," Beast sighed. "She hasn't moved from the position she's been in for weeks and I can't get her to talk or eat for that matter."

"Has she been crying?" LaToya asked as Beast shook his head in reply.

"Well that's good right?" Kitty offered.

"Quite the opposite," Beast said. "When a person cries, they're showing that they _feel_ _something_. Semina hasn't been responsive to her miscarriage at all. She's not angry or sad, she's just...numb. She's refusing to feel anything."

"Is she villing to see anyone yet?" Kurt questioned. "It's been veeks!"

"Every time I ask if she wants to see anyone she nods her head 'no'," Beast replied.

"How long do you think she'll keep this up?" Jean asked.

"Suffering through something like this could take years to come to terms with," Beast explained. "Seeing friends and family usually helps the process but with Semina not seeing anyone, she may never get over it."

"Have her powers come back yet?" Rogue asked.

"Not yet," Beast answered. "I've been studying the serum in her blood and it hasn't been completely expelled from her system."

"And when it does, she'll get her powers back?" Scott inquired.

"Precisely, but this serum is slowly vanishing," Beast said. "I'm estimating another couple weeks or months for her powers to return."

The professor wheeled into the waiting room and asked to speak with Beast alone.

"Hank, I understand that Semina is very broken up about this," he began. "But she can't stay in there forever. I've just received word that the school is willing to let the students back for a trial period and we need Semina there with them."

"I can't get her to speak let alone to agree to go back to school," Beast shrugged. "Unless you can talk her out of the room, she's not going anywhere."

"That's why I won't be the one talking to her," the professor smirked. Vivian walked in and smiled. "She will."

"There's no one that Semina trusts more than me," Vivian explained. "I think I might be able to at least leave the room. But this little girl is stubborn."

Vivian entered the room and sadly looked at her niece. "Semina? Baby, it's your aunt. We need to talk."

I heard my aunt come in but made no effort to move.

"Okay, then maybe you'll listen," Vivian rephrased when she saw Semina wasn't moving. "I know how you feel. I bet you're thinking 'How could she possibly feel the way I do?' But trust me, I know what it feels like to lose your child and the love of your life. I know because the same thing has happened to me."

I slowly cast a glance over my shoulder and waited for her to continued.

"Around my late 20s, I was dating a man that I thought would be my future husband," Vivian said. "His wife had died during childbirth and he was stuck raising his two children alone. We dated for years and fell madly in love until he changed. He turned into something that I couldn't even stomach to be around. Even to this day, I still hate his guts and what he's become. But soon after we broke up, I found out I was pregnant with his child. I don't believe in abortion so the only other thing left to do was give the baby up for adoption. Nine months later, I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy but when I looked into his beautiful brown eyes, I knew I couldn't give him up so I chose to raise him myself. He eventually found out about the baby and in a jealous rage, he killed him. I never even told him that the baby was his because he swore to hate me for what I did. So I know exactly how you feel. You're feeling like you'll never be able to love again. You're feeling like the pain will never stop. But the strongest thing you're feeling is guilt. You're thinking that it's your fault you couldn't prevent it but it's _not_ your fault. No one can control these kinds of things, they just happen. And the pain will go away, but you need to stop fighting your emotions and let your friends help you through this."

I took my eyes off of her and turned back around toward the wall. I heard Aunt Viv sigh and rise from her chair. When she began to walk away, I quietly asked "What did you name the baby?"

"Erik Jr," Vivian answered. "After his father."

"You really did love Magneto didn't you?" I questioned in a hushed tone.

"I did," Vivian replied with a tight grip in her voice. "Just like you love Pietro."

"I don't love him anymore," I responded. "He can die for all I care. It's what he deserves."

"You sound heartless," Vivian said. "You're speaking out of a broken heart. You really don't mean that."

"I have no heart," I coldly replied. "Pietro ripped it from my chest and shattered it. So yeah, I _am_ heartless. At least this way, I won't get hurt anymore."

"This stage of heartbreak will last a while but it won't last forever," Vivian said as she opened the door to leave. "Oh and by the way, you have school on Monday. Don't even think you'll be staying home either."

I stared at the wall until she left before letting a tear slip from my eye.

Monday Morning

I put on one of the very few outfits that survived the blast: a black skirt, white shirt with a black leather vest, black skull tights and flat white boots that reached the middle of my calves. After looking at myself in the mirror of the med bay bathroom I thought that I at least looked a lot better than I feel, minus the baggy purple eyes, tired and pale skin and not to mention the frown that hasn't left my face in weeks. I walked into the room where the professor was addressing the X-Men and sat myself in the chair furthest away from everyone.

"Glad to see you out of the med bay," Professor X greeted. I scowled and grunted in reply. "You already know the matter at hand, so there's no need to reinform you. Just be on your best behavior and have a good first day back."

At school

We walked onto the campus on Bayville High and instantly felt all eyes on us. Whispers, glares and pointed fingers surrounded us but I just blocked it all out. People shouted for us to go home, that we don't belong here and the ever so popular 'you guys are freaks'. It seemed everyone was taking heat from the humans except Kurt, Anthony and LaToya. LaToya and Anthony weren't part of the sentinel battle so the humans haven't figured out the connection yet. I stared at the ground as I walked to avoid any eye contact but stopped in my tracks when three girls walked up to me.

"How do you feel now, mutie?" One of them snarled. "You're not so hot on campus now anymore, are you?"

"Everyone hates you, you know," another mocked. "Pretty or not."

"You should just do the world a favor and go kill yourself," the third said. "We don't want you here and no one will miss you."

I looked at them with a blank expression before walking around them, completely ignoring they were even there.

* * *

Classes were nothing less than I expected. The other students threw things at me, called me names and segregated themselves from me like I had the plague. The same thing happened the entire day in every class. In English, my last class of the day, I received my graded pop quiz back I saw that my A had been crossed out and replaced with a D-. When I asked why she changed the grade she simply replied that she has trouble believing I did it on my own, which basically means she thinks I cheated by using my powers. After class ended I walked out only to bump into Lance.

"Watch where you're going!" Lance shouted without looking at me. "Can't you see this _mutant_ is walking?"

I glared at his back before tapping him on the shoulder. He whipped his head to look at me and his angry face melted into a sympathetic one. "Oh, it's you. What do you want?"

"I want a simple yes or no answer," I said. "Do you know where he is?"

Lance's face twisted back into anger before he scoffed and stormed off. I'm guessing that meant no. As I rounded the corner, I was faced with Misty, Chelsea and Talisa.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the mutant freak herself," Misty growled.

"What's this about?" I asked with a bored look on my face.

"We're just here to officially tell you that you're off the squad," Misty said, a triumphant on her face. "Permanently."

I looked at her dumbly before starting to chuckle. It was just a couple titters at first but soon enough it was a cacophony of laughter.

"What's so funny?" Misty snapped.

"You're such a dumb bitch, you know that?" I giggled. "I quit the squad a month ago! You know after I got attacked by that 'bear'. Now if you'll excuse me, I have go home."

Misty blocked my path and I asked "What now?"

"You have to return the uniform you rented," Misty said.

"I bought it," I replied. "It's legally mine. At least I can keep something to remind me why I always hated being a cheerleader."

"Fine, you can go mutie but just remember that everyone will always hate you," Misty growled before turning her nose up and walking away with Chelsea following her. Talisa however stood her ground and stared at me.

"Let me guess, you're gonna tell me off," I sighed. " 'Why didn't you tell me?' 'We're best friends!' Blah, blah, blah."

"Did you read my mind just now?" Talisa asked.

"No, it's a waste of time to," I replied. "We _were_ best friends I don't have to read you're mind to know what you're thinking."

"I just need to know if Anthony is a mutant too," Talisa anxiously said.

"And if he is?" I asked before I stopped her reply and said "You know what don't say anything. You're going to break up with him aren't you? If you are, I want you to know something. Just because my brother _is_ a mutant doesn't mean it changes the reasons you fell for him. Remember that when you go to rip his heart out."

Before she could reply, I stormed out of the building toward LaToya and Anthony who were waiting for me. My car and my sister's car were blown up with the mansion so we had to depend on Anthony's car which just happened to be in the shop during the explosion.

"What took you so long?" LaToya asked.

"There was something I had to take care of," I simply replied.

* * *

After the school board hearing last week, all mutants were allowed to attend public schools. It's not like I actually _want_ to be there but I do need to graduate. The mansion is the process of being rebuilt so for now, I'm stuck in the overcrowded sub level sharing a room with my sister and Jean. I think I liked it better in the med bay, at least it wasn't as crowded. I still haven't gotten my powers back yet either but Aunt Viv has. Her telepathy is returning back to its original strength and I'm happy for her. The professor says that I've been exhibiting signs of my powers returning but nothing major has happened yet. He says that they will come back when they're ready but that day can't get here fast enough.

* * *

School wasn't getting any better and the other students were starting to hate us more and more. Take my locker for example, I went to get my Trig textbook for class only to find the word "mutie" written in graffiti all over it. I opened my locker and a bucket of water toppled out of it.

"Why don't you attack us with your magic water?" I heard someone yell through the sea of laughter.

"Yeah! Turn sweep us away in a tidal wave, ya freak!" another one yelled.

I slammed my locker shut and walked around the corner to see a kid get shoved into a locker. I looked closer to see Kurt being harassed by Duncan Matthews and his goons.

"Hey, what's going on here?" I demanded. "Any of y'all wanna explain to me why you're picking on my friend?"

"Stay of this, Semina," Michelle said. "It's none of your business."

"When it comes to Kurt, it _is_ my business," I said. "He's my best friend."

"You should leave if you know what's good for you," Duncan growled.

"Are you threatening me?" I laughed. "Please, Duncan. Don't make me kick your ass in front of all your friends. It'll hurt the ego you _have_ to have to make up for the fact that you probably have a small penis."

The crowd that gathered around me all went "oooh" and I heard some of the girls call out that it was true.

"What did you say?" Duncan growled as he dropped Kurt and visibly turned red.

"You heard me," I said stepping into his face. "Or is your machismo blocking your ear canals?"

Duncan cocked his fist back and I said "Go ahead Duncan. Hit me. Hit a poor defenseless girl. Let's see who'll win this fight if you do."

Duncan fist quivered until it fell at his side.

"That's what I thought," I smirked. "Now you're gonna stop picking on Kurt or I will personally deliver the ass kicking of your life. Got that?"

"Whatever," Duncan scoffed as he and his friends walked off.

"You didn't need to do that," Kurt said.

"I wanted you," I replied. "I know you could've easily taken down those guys but is it wrong to defend your best friend?"

"Nope," Kurt smiled as he gave me a hug. "Feel free to save me anytime."

* * *

After my long day at school, I decided to have a well deserved nap. Too bad my dreams kept it from being peaceful.

"_It seems like forever since we had some alone time," I said as I snuggled up to Pietro's broad chest as we lay in the warm beach sand._

"_Yeah, everything's just been piling up and keeping us apart," Pietro agreed. "It's nice to be away form Bayville for a change."_

"_Just the three of us," I smiled as I rubbed my very pregnant stomach. Pietro laid his hand on top of mine and kissed my nose._

"_I love you Semina," Pietro said, looking me straight in the eye._

"_I love you too," I replied. _

_The soothing crash of the waves against the rocks and the cry of seagulls surrounded our private spot of the beach. That is, until I heard heavy thudding footsteps approaching us. Startled, I cried out for Pietro only to find that I was alone on the beach. I looked toward the ocean and saw a blurry figure coming toward me. I squinted with the sun in my eyes but widened them when I saw the Sentinel reaching toward me. Limited by my physical state, I was roughly grabbed into it's mechanical hand. The Sentinel brought me toward its face where I saw Bolivar Trask perched on his shoulder._

"_There you, you freak of nature," Trask hissed. "I hope you're ready to die!"_

_That's when I felt something sharp pierce my stomach, leaving me limp and weak in the Sentinels grasp. The Sentinel eventually dropped my paralyzed body into the salty water where I started drifting toward the bottom. I struggled to breathe as I felt water fill my lungs. I desperately tried to swim the the surface but couldn't stop sinking. I saw Pietro in the water and reached my hand out to him but he just scoffed at my helpless predicament and faded away. _

"_No! Pietro come back! The baby! You have to save the baby!" I called out as I sank further and further away. I touched my stomach only to find it flat and devoid of any sings of pregnancy. Instead of feeling the pain of losing a baby, felt a familiar pounding in my head._

I snapped awake from my dream turned nightmare to find myself clutching my head, panting in pain and surrounded by half of the mansion who had piled into the tiny metal room. Was I screaming in my sleep again?

"Semina?" Vivian asked in a concerned tone. "What's going on?"

"It. Hurts," I panted as I felt the pain worsen. I began biting my lip to keep from screaming and squeezed my eyes shut.

"Was it another nightmare?" LaToya asked.

"Was it about Andre?" Anthony asked.

"N-no," I answered, my voice strained. "Sentinels, Bolivar Trask, the baby."

"I bet Pietro was in it too, am I right?" Evan asked.

When I heard Pietro's name mentioned, the pain reached its limit and I let out a splintering howl of pain. I felt a wave of power flow out from me and watched as everyone in the room collapsed seconds before I did as well.

* * *

"Back in the med bay," I sighed as I winced as Beast drew blood from my arm. "Oh, joy."

"Let's see what's going on with the serum leaving your blood stream," Beast said as he slid the blood sample underneath his microscope. "This is odd."

"What is?" I asked. "Isn't it gone yet? My powers came back!"

"Not exactly," Beast began, a nervous look on his face. "The serum is still in your blood which makes it impossible for your powers to be completely back. What happened earlier was just a psychic backlash. Unfortunately, your powers have not returned, Semina."

I hopped off the bed and angrily stormed out of the med bay, letting the heavy metal door slam behind me. I went to the room I was sharing with my sister and Jean and slammed that door too. Logan, who must've heard the door slam followed me into the room and gave me a disapproving glare.

"Do ya really have to slam the doors?" Logan grunted.

"Yes," I dryly said. "Beast said to start expressing my feelings. Slamming doors is my way of letting people know to _stay out of my way_."

"Yeah, well I'm not one for following rules," Logan said as he sat beside me on the bed.

"I don't want to talk to anyone," I as I stared up at the metal ceiling. "I appreciate your concern, Logan. You're probably one of the very _few_ adult men that care about my well being, but I just don't want to feel any emotions and talking about what I'm going through will make me feel them."

"I'm just happy that you're talking again," Logan said. "And what do you mean by I'm one of the few adult men that care about you?"

"My father never talks to me," I replied, still staring intently at the ceiling. "He still thinks I'm fifteen. You're actually the closet thing I have to a dad!"

I mentally kicked myself for blurting that out. I never meant to tell anyone that's how I saw Logan, especially _Logan_.

"See this is why I didn't want to talk to anyone," I groaned. "I just want to feel nothing, okay? Just leave me alone, Logan!"

"Semina, you can never run away from your emotions," Logan said. "Trust me, I've tried."

"Really, Logan?" I skeptically asked. "You never show anything besides anger and annoyance, so don't lecture me on how to deal with my feelings because you have no idea how to deal with things like this!"

"Her name was Itsu Akihiro," Logan began. "She was from Japan but I met her in China on assignment for the army. We instantly fell in love and got married."

"What happened to her?" I asked, my interest now piqued.

"She was killed," Logan replied with a steely gaze. "Her and the baby she was carrying...my baby. So I know how it feels to lose a child. It's the worst feeling in the world but that's just what it is: a feeling. They come and go and are good or bad depending on the situation but you can never shake 'em. No matter how hard you try. Listen to someone who's been through this, kid. Let your emotions win. If you wanna cry, cry. If you wanna be sad, be sad. If you wanna be angry, we can go take it out on that pretty boy who broke your heart. The point is your emotions will never go away, so stop trying to be this robot who can't feel anything because everyone misses the old Semina."

'I miss her too,' the voice in my head said. 'At least that Semina wouldn't be sitting in her room, moping all the time. You're _better_ than that. You're so much stronger and tougher than how you're acting right now.'

"It's gonna take a while for me to be my old self," I sighed. "I don't know if I can just act like I always did. Like all of this never happened."

"You don't have to," Logan reassured. "You have to find a way to deal with it and get on with your life."

"That seems like hard work," I pouted. "And we all know I'm lazy."

"See that? There's the old funny Semina," Logan said. "I haven't seen her in months."

"She's probably just visiting," I said as I felt the corners of my mouth tug into a slight smile. I gave Logan a hug and said "Thanks, Logan. I never thought you of all people would cheer me up but that's what father-figures are for."

"Y-your welcome," Logan uncomfortably thanked, obviously touched by my words. "Now that you're a little better, does that mean I can go skewer the pretty boy?"

"As long as I can watch," I smirked as I watched him walk toward the door.

Before Logan turned the doorknob, he quietly said "Kid, you can call me dad, if ya want. But not in front of the others. And this is just between us. Got it, sprinkler?"

"Sure thing, Log-, I mean dad," I said as I tried to contain a smile. He left and for the first time in months, I let my mouth upturn into a genuinely happy smile.

Outside the door

"That was a very nice thing to do, Logan," Professor X smiled, slightly amused by the soft spot Logan held for Semina.

"Can it, Chuck," Logan growled as he brushed past him. "And don't you _dare_ breathe a word of this to anyone else."

* * *

After my talk with Logan, I set off to find my fuzzy blue best friend to see if he wanted to grab a bite to eat with me. I knocked on his door and peered my head inside to find Kurt making out with LaToya on his bed. I couldn't help but quickly closing the door and breaking down into a fit of amused laughter. And people complained about my make out sessions. I knocked on the door and again but this time I called out "Kurt are you in there? It's Semina!"

I heard panicked whispers, fumbling and I'm pretty sure I heard someone fall. Kurt came to the door and said "Hey Semina! How are you doing? Vhat can I help you vith?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to get some ice cream," I said, containing giggles.

"Um..." Kurt said as his gaze drifted back into his room.

"Is there someone in there with you?" I asked.

"Vhat?" Kurt exclaimed. "No! Absolutely not! Zhere is no one here besides me! Zhere especially isn't someone hiding in zhe closet!"

"I never asked if there was," I said. "So do you wanna grab some ice cream or what?"

"Sure," Kurt agreed.

I poked my head into the room and called out "We'll be at the ice cream parlor if you need us, LaToya!"

"How did you know?" LaToya asked as she emerged from the closet.

"I kinda figured it out when I opened the door and saw you two sucking face," I shrugged.

"Well, can I come too?" LaToya asked.

"No, I wanna spend time alone with my best friend," I said. "Say goodbye to my sister, Kurt."

"I'll see you vhen ve get back, okay?" Kurt said as he wrapped his arms around her waist and gave her a quick kiss that slowly grew more and more passionate. I cleared my throat and they broke apart, both blushing like crazy.

"Oh, don't stop on my account," I teased. "I just had something in my throat."

"Shut up, Semina," LaToya said as she stuck her tongue out at me and I returned the gesture.

I linked my arm with Kurts who 'ported us up to the mansion level and in front of the gate. After walking out of it, we walked down the sidewalk toward the ice cream parlor.

"So vhat made you want to come out of the sub levels?" Kurt questioned. I knew his best friend sense would pick up on that. "And you look much better."

"I had a talk with Logan that really cheered me up," I admitted.

Kurt looked at me stunned and repeated. "You. Had a talk. Vith Volverine. Zhat made you. Happy?"

"Yeah," I nodded as we entered the ice cream parlor. "He's such a big softie once you get to know him."

"Sure, vhatever you say," Kurt replied as he rolled his eyes.

We walked up to the counter and tried to order our ice cream but the man at the counter wouldn't let us.

"You're refusing me service?" I asked in disbelief. "Why is that?"

"We don't serve your kind," the man replied.

"My kind? Is this because I'm black or because I'm a mutant?" I sneered.

"I'd refuse service to either one," the man said, standing his ground.

I walked away from the counter in utter disbelief. "I can't believe this Kurt! I've been coming to this ice cream parlor for months and now that everyone knows I'm a mutant, I'm no longer allowed to buy ice cream!"

"It's outrageous!" Kurt agreed.

I turned toward the door but stopped when I thought of an idea. I went back up to the guy at the counter and asked to speak with Meredith.

"Why?" the man questioned.

"I need to ask her a feminine question," I replied. Seeing the disgust on his face, I smile inwardly as I watched him retreat to the back room, returning with my favorite ice cream counter lady.

"Oh, hello there, Semina," she greeted. "What can I do for you?"

"I was just wondering when this ice cream parlor stopped serving 'my kind' as the guy over there said it," I shrugged.

"What does she mean, Charlie?" Meredith asked.

"Meredith, we can't serve to mutants!" Charlie yelled. "They're monsters and plagues of society."

"This sweet little teenager is a monster?" Meredith asked as pointed at me. "Well then I guess babies are evil. Don't worry, Semina. I'll serve you and your friend some ice cream."

"Thank you, Meredith," I smiled as I gave the kind old lady a hug over the counter.

After Kurt and I received our ice cream cones, I glared angrily at Charlie before giving Meredith a sweet smile and wave as I exited the parlor.

"Is this really how we're gonna have to live for the rest of our lives?" I asked as we entered the sub levels. "Ostracized by humans for being born with an extra gene? Treated like freaks and monsters and-"

"Demons," Kurt chimed in, with a pained look on his face.

"Oh, Kurt, I'm sorry," I said. "This is about what happened when you were younger right?"

He gave a brief nod and I knew that Kurt would always have it worse than the rest of us just for looking different. When he was a little kid living in Germany, the other people in his village tried to burn him alive for being a demon sent from hell bent on destroying them. His foster parents did all they could to protect him so they ended up moving to a remote house far away from other humans just to keep him safe. Kurt's been ashamed of his looks ever since.

"Kurt, we're all mutants," I said as we entered the mansion grounds. "In a strange way we're actually all the same. Not freaks or demons, just different."

"At least you look normal," Kurt sighed as he turned off his image inducer. "I'm blue and furry with a tail."

"You have no reason to be ashamed of how you look," I reassured. "Personally, I like your tail. I kinda wish I had one. Either that or wings. That would be just the coolest thing ever!"

Kurt looked at my excitement and couldn't help but smile.

"So are you ready to deal vith everything the humans have to dish out?" Kurt asked.

"After what I've been through, I'm ready for a full on war if need be," I sighed. I saw a cat scamper past us and asked "Hey, have you seen Kitty? I haven't seen her since school this morning. Come to think of it I haven't seen Rogue either."

Kurt and I took the elevator down to the sub levels and Kurt spotted them before I could.

"Oh here zhey come," Kurt said as Kitty and Rogue came toward us looking tired and weary. "Vhoa! Vhat happened to you two?"

"We just chased the Brotherhood all the way out of town," Rogue groaned.

"Whoa! Why? What were they doing?" I asked.

"Well you remember that Gambit guy right?" Kitty asked. We nodded and she continued. "He asked the Brotherhood to break out a captured mutant and you'll never believe who it was!"

"Was it Mystique?" Kurt asked. Even if he hates his mom, he does care about her. He's a great son.

"Nope, it was Pietro," Kitty exclaimed. "He almost fell over a cliff and died but I saved him. He totally didn't deserve it but I couldn't let him drop, could I?"

"Yes, you could've," I said as anger flooded my body. "You should've let Pietro topple right over that cliff. He's better off dead anyway."

I turned around, but not before catching their shocked faces, and marched to my room and slammed the door shut.

A/N: It seems Semina isn't repressing her feelings anymore. I'm bringing Pietro back in the next chapter for a confrontation and to help "speed up the process". You'll know what that means in a little while. Meanwhile, you can review this chapter and tell me what you thought!


	29. A Little Chat With Pietro

A/N: It seems people are forgetting about my story. They'll remember once I start working on the sequel. But thank you to imaninja41, cartoongal11 and Ansa88 for _always_ reviewing. Here's the new chapter. Pietro just made things worse by "speeding up the process". ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution or any song used in this story, so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

A Little Chat with Pietro

"Is she still in there?" Anthony asked looking at the closed door of Semina's room in the sub-levels.

"Yup," LaToya sighed. "She won't talk to anyone. Not even Aunt Viv!"

"This is bad," Anthony said, clenching his fists. "Pietro has Semina stuck in two emotions: rage and depression."

"He's back in Bayville, isn't he?" LaToya asked as her brother shook his head yes. "Then let's go pay him a very violent visit."

"I'll get my car," Anthony deviously smiled.

At the Brotherhood House

'Back in this miserable dump,' Pietro thought. 'At least I try to get things back to normal again. Starting with Semina. God, she must hate me for what I did. I wouldn't be surprised if she was heading this way to tell me off right now.'

Tires screeched outside and Pietro ran to the window to see Anthony and LaToya angrily exit his car.

'Crap!' Pietro yelped. 'I wasn't planning on this happening!'

Anthony, in his rock form, kicked the door open and he and LaToya marched inside.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Lance asked.

"We're looking for Pietro," LaToya growled. "Either tell us where he is or we can make you tell us."

"Pietro's upstairs in his room, third door on the left," Lance said. "Kick his ass extra hard for us."

"Yeah, we don't want that traitor in our house," Blob said.

"Especially if he's making us clean," Toad agreed.

"Okay, then," Anthony said as he looked at the Brotherhood weirdly before getting serious again. He and LaToya clomped up the stairs and they forced the door open. They looked around the room in search of him before their eyes settled on a closed door. Anthony counted to three on his fingers and kicked it open. There he was, the boy who broke their sisters heart, hiding in his bathroom like a coward.

"Oh, hey," Pietro nervously said. "What brings you two here?"

LaToya answered by opening her mouth a unleashing a scream that shattered all the glass in the house. Pietro covered his ears to try to block it out but it didn't work and he began to get woozy. Anthony stalked over to him, grabbed him by the shirt collar and began dragging him downstairs. Once outside, Anthony used the rocks surrounding the house to seal Pietro in a rock tomb with his head uncovered to keep him from running.

"Oh, hey no fair! Let me outta this thing!" Pietro demanded. "I can get Magneto over here quicker than you can blink!"

"Shut. Up," LaToya yelled. "We don't care if you can get your father over here or not."

"What do you want from me?" Pietro asked. "I haven't done anything to either of you!"

"You ripped our sister's heart out!" Anthony said. "You weren't even there when she-"

LaToya clamped her hand over his mouth and said "That's something Semina should tell him herself."

"Fine," Anthony said as he saw the desperation in her eyes. "As for you, Pietro, you're coming with us."

"Where are you taking me?" Pietro asked as he squirmed in his rock prison.

"We're going to show you exactly what you've done to our sister," LaToya said.

At the Mansion

I walked into the mansion for the first time in months to see almost everything back to normal. The structure was rebuilt perfectly and every room was being refurnished. I walked out of the foyer and looked around the living room where a new shiny black piano was just placed. The light from the open window shone down on it reflecting its beauty and catching my eye. It's been so long since I've played anything. I sat down on the little piano bench and let my fingers feel the keys freely to refamiliarize myself. I've been switching back and forth between anger and sadness and I know just the song to play to express it all.

"Where is she?" LaToya questioned aloud as she looked through the sub levels for her sister. LaToya ran back to the mansion grounds to Anthony and informed him that she wasn't there.

Anthony groaned in frustration before he faintly heard the gentle sounds of piano keys. "I think I found her."

Pushing Pietro and his rock tomb in front of him, Anthony and LaToya come upon the window of the living room and looked inside to see their sister playing the piano, disheveled and still clad in a bathroom robe.

Feeling the emotions welling up inside of me, I released the song that spoke truth to my ears and heart.

I'm so tired of being here  
Suppressed by all my childish fears  
And if you have to leave  
I wish that you would just leave  
Your presence still lingers here  
And it won't leave me alone

These wounds won't seem to heal  
This pain is just too real  
There's just too much that time cannot erase

When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears  
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears  
And I held your hand through all of these years  
But you still have  
All of me

You used to captivate me  
By your resonating light  
Now I'm bound by the life you left behind  
Your face it haunts  
My once pleasant dreams  
Your voice it chased away  
All the sanity in me

These wounds won't seem to heal  
This pain is just too real  
There's just too much that time cannot erase

When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears  
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears  
And I held your hand through all of these years  
But you still have  
All of me

I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone  
But though you're still with me  
I've been alone all along

When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears  
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears  
And I held your hand through all of these years  
But you still have  
All of me

I felt a twinge in my heart and rested my hands on my flat stomach before letting them grip the sides of the piano. "Keep it together, Mina," I told myself as tears threatened to spill from my eyes. "You're better than this. You can't cry over him. You, you-"

My voice began to quiver and I swallowed the lump in my throat that meant I was close to breaking down. I bit my lip to keep from letting the tears fall but then my hand subconsciously went up to my locket. The locket that Pietro bought for me and I lost all composure. I crumpled to the floor in a sad heap, hysterically crying my eyes out and letting it all out. I've cried a lot before but it was never this heart wrenching. Never this painful and intense.

"Why would you do this to me?" I cried out as I clutched my stomach. "Why would you leave me to deal with it all myself? Why didn't you love me, Pietro?"

I wobbled to my feet and with tears still streaming, I ripped off my locket in a fit of undeniable rage and hurled it into the wall.

"You betrayed me!" I shouted at the locket, that was now opened to our picture, on the floor. "I loved you and you betrayed me! I will _NEVER_ forgive you for what you've done!"

Pietro watched as Semina stormed out of the room. His body felt heavy like it was filled with adamantium and even with his carefree and arrogant attitude, he felt the worst pain of his life grip his heart.

"Now you see what you've done to our sister," Anthony said. "You'll never feel-

"Wait, look!" LaToya said getting his attention.

They turned the attention back toward the window and saw Semina reenter the room. She looked around before she hesitantly walked back to the spot where she left the locket. Semina picked it up and gazed softly at it before securing it around her neck and walking back out.

'She-she went back for the locket I gave her?' Pietro thought as he watched Semina recede out of the room. 'But why?'

"I can't believe it!" Anthony exclaimed. "Even after all she's been through she won't give up on you!"

"This is the most heartbreaking we've ever seen our sister," LaToya choked out, her voice slightly breaking. "We've seen her breakdown but never like this. She's dead on the inside. You've affected her in ways you might never know and you probably don't even care!"

'Who says I don't,' Pietro thought. That's what he wanted to say but his playboy facade came back up and instead he replied "I don't care because she's not my problem anymore."

"Not. Your. Problem?" Anthony growled between clenched teeth. Using his super strength he picked Pietro up, rock tomb and all, and brought him to his face. "You had _sex_ with our little sister. You were her first and you don't think she's your problem anymore? Oh, no. That's not how this works. You two are bonded, both physically and telepathically, don't you _ever_ for a second think that you can just toss her off to the side! I have half a mind to kill you if I didn't want to rot in jail for the rest of my life. And more importantly, Semina would never forgive me. I don't know why but for some strange reason, she still loves you. You saw how she dove back for that locket. I know she'll never stop loving you, even if you don't deserve her because you've put her through hell and back."

Pietro felt terror and guilty strike through his body. Terror by Anthony's threats and guilt because he was just reminded that he slept with Semina. But how did her brother and sister find out? They vowed to never tell anyone.

"Yeah, can I go now?" Pietro whined. "I have things to do. I have three dates that I can't be late for tonight."

"You disgust us," LaToya sneered. "Go crawl back to that dump you live in and screw around with hoes who will never love you as much as Semina. You don't deserve any better than that."

"Whatever," Pietro dismissed. "Can we just get a move on?"

"You wanna go?" Anthony asked as he picked him and and shot into the air on a rock pillar that over looked the entire neighborhood. "Off ya go!" Anthony located the Brotherhood house and tossed Pietro toward it like he was a tiny pebble.

* * *

With everyone outside helping rebuild the mansion, I stayed in bed cuddled up in my covers and cradling a box of tissues for my tears.

'Oh, great,' I thought. 'Now that the tears have started, they won't stop! Why am I the one who has to suffer? Pietro doesn't know anything about what happened! Not like he'll care. He's just gonna mask his emotions with arrogance like he always does. Jerk.'

A knock came from the door and I yelled "Come in if you want! I don't give a crap!"

Rogue entered the room and sat on the edge of my bed. She noticed the tissues and frowned. "Look, Semina. I'm not gonna beat around the bush. I saw you play 'My Immortal' on the piano."

"So?" I pouted.

"I saw everything," Rogue continued. "The crying, the ranting, the locket throwing. I also saw how you went back for the locket. It's obvious you're still torn apart about the whole Sentinel thing and the baby. Instead of moping, crying or lashing out at everybody like an angry cobra, go talk to Pietro. I know he's the last person you want to see but you need to get this off of your chest."

"Here's the problem: I don't know where to find him," I said. "If I had my powers I could search for him but-"

"Wait! You mean you don't know?" Rogue asked, a look of confusion crossing her face. "Nobody told you?

"Told me what?" I exclaimed irritatedly. "Everyone's been hiding form me, staying out of my way or tip toeing around me. I don't anything that's happened in the outside world for weeks now!"

"Mina, Pietro's back in Bayville with the Brotherhood," Rogue told me. "He hasn't been hiding. He's been in town for a while now. I thought you knew and were avoiding him."

"Say what?" I shouted as anger rose in my chest. I threw off my covers and quickly changed out of my bathrobe and slippers. "I'll be back, Rogue. Tell everyone I've stepped out for some fresh air."

"Try to not hurt him too badly," Rogue smirked.

* * *

Walking to the Brotherhood house would take some time but I had all this time to organize my thoughts. As I walked briskly through the cool air, I fumed in rage. All this time, Pietro's been in Bayville and no one told me! Not even my own flesh and blood! When I see Pietro I don't know what I'm gonna do but it wont be pretty.

'That's it, Semina,' the voice in my head said. 'Get angry at the boy who broke your heart. He deserved everything you do to him and worse. Letting out your anger if good for you and me.'

After walking for a good ten minutes, I came upon the dilapidated house that held some of my fondest memories. Doing the civil thing, I knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. Toad opened the door and took note of my angry stance, clenched fist and vengeful eyes. He winced like he could feel the anger emanating off of me then smiled.

"Oh, there is a God," Toad giddily said. "He's gonna get it now. Hey, Pietro! Come down here! There's someone here to see you!"'

"Who is it?" Pietro asked before he saw me in the threshold. Our eyes met and burned into each others. "Oh, it's you."

I stormed toward him and jammed my finger in his face "I want answers, Pietro! Why did you do all of this?"

"All of what?" Pietro asked, feigning innocence.

"You know damn well what!" I shouted. "The Sentinel, Bolivar Trask, betraying me? You better have a damn good reason for doing it!"

"Why I did what I did is none of your business," Pietro scoffed. "Now there's the door, you can walk right out of it because technically you're trespassing."

He turned around to walk back up the stairs but I caught his wrist and forced him back around. "You want me to leave? After all we've been through? After all we've done? You just want me to leave?"

Pietro groaned and said "You're still on that? So we had sex, big deal!"

"Big deal?" I yelled, seeing red. I don't know how much longer I can keep myself from exploding.

"Yeah, big deal," Pietro repeated. "I don't see why you're making a big thing out of it. It was just sex. Amazing sex, by the way. Your body is absolutely beautiful especially when it's underneath mine. We should've done it twice because-"

Before he could finish his sentence, my hand flew toward his cheek at an incredible speed and struck him forcefully. My hand left a bright red mark against his pale skin and he held his cheek delicately from the pain he was in.

"SHUT UP!" I bellowed. "Just shut the hell up! Don't you dare talk about it like it was just some liaison that meant nothing to you! You and I know damn well that it was much more than that! And don't you _ever_ belittle or disrespect me like some common whore again!"

"What the fuck is your problem, you crazy bitch?" Pietro yelled as his cheek stung, he obviously forgot who he was talking to.

I slapped the same cheek again, even harder than before as my anger reached it's pinnacle.

"How dare you call me that!" I yelled. "What happened to the sweet Pietro who would comfort me in times like this? You're a MONSTER! You have no idea what I've been through! I lost everything because of you! I lost the mansion-"

"Oh, wow," Pietro mocked. "The spoiled little girl doesn't have a mansion to live in anymore!"

"I lost my powers!" I continued.

"You lost your powers?" Pietro asked looking genuinely shocked.

"Why do you think the stupid telepathic link I regret putting up hasn't been working?" I rhetorically asked. "I'm powerless and I'm _still_ being treated like shit by the humans!"

"It's not my fault you lost your powers," Pietro said.

"NOT YOUR FAULT!" I exploded. My head was pounding and I felt like it would burst from the pressure. "This is **all** your fault! If you would've given some type of warning I wouldn't have gone in to fight and I wouldn't have gotten captured and most importantly I wouldn't have lost the-"

"The what!" Pietro snapped, fed up with her complaining. "What could've been so valuable that you lost? Your car? Your dog? Your-"

"THE BABY!" I shouted at the top of my lungs while tears flowed from my eyes. "I lost the baby I was carrying! _Your_ **baby** is dead because of your recklessness and blatant disregard for the girl you were supposed to love! Now you know what I've been dealing with for the past month! You weren't even there when I miscarried! My life has been a living hell all because of you!"

Pietro's eyes went as big as saucers as did the rest of the Brotherhood who were watching the argument. Pietro, in a state of shock, fell to his knees and began panting.

"You were pregnant?" Pietro quietly asked more to himself than to me. "With _my_ baby? And now it's dead. How? No, no this has to be some sort of mistake!"

"No mistake," I said as I silently cried. "Beast said I was two months along until the serum that caused me to lose my powers caused me to lose the baby too. The same serum that I was injected with while I was at the government lab I was sent to after I was captured by the Sentinel."

Pietro remained silent and I saw him struggling to keep from crying. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't know until it was too late," I replied as I felt anger melt into anguish. "It's gone and you even weren't there to deal though it with me. I had to go through the pain _alone_, both physically and emotional. I deal with everyone's sympathy _alone_. Watch our baby get buried _alone_."

Pietro grabbed me and buried me in a hug that was packed full of pain, sadness and regret. I felt his teardrops seep through my shirt and cried along with him. "Oh my God, Semina. I-I don't even know what to say to you. I just can't believe that our baby is gone. I'm so sorry."

'Really, Semina?' the voice in my head said, 'There he goes playing the sorry card again. Just like last time. And you're going to forgive him. _Just like last time_.'

"Oh, you're 'sorry' ?" I snapped, pulling myself away from him. "Do you think sorry will make everything better between us again? Make us happy again? Bring our baby back? I know that you're hurting as much as I am but you can't just say sorry for this. I'm not taking you back that easily. Things are over between us and I will _never_ forgive you for betraying me."

Pietro's look of angst turned into anger to match mine and he said "Who said I wanted you back? Because I never did. And even if you say you won't take me back, you will. I'm the best you'll ever have and you and I both know it. You will _always_ come back to me! So don't expect me to bend to your will just because you went through a miscarriage."

"You know I could tell you to go to hell or die a slow painful death but I think this will hurt much much worse," I said before I yanked off my locket and threw it at him. "I. HATE. YOU!"

I took my last look at him before storming out of the Brotherhood house and slamming the door. Pietro stood frozen as he stared back and forth from the locket to the door before _slowly_ _walking_ up to his room.

'She's gone,' he thought as tears rolled down his cheek. 'She's gone and she's never coming back.'

* * *

'I hate him, I hate him, I _hate_ him!' I yelled in my head as I walked into the mansion.

'That's right, Semina, let your hate and anger out,' the voice in my head urged. 'You have a right to be angry. Pietro betrayed you, Magneto killed Andre and Bolivar Trask cost you your powers and the life of your baby. Release your anger and let it rot into hate!'

My head began to throb and my fury grew stronger with each second. A familiar feeling shot through my body. It was the same way I felt when I found Bolivar Trask. There was an invigorating sensation coursing through my veins and it felt amazing.

'That's it,' the voice in my head cackled. 'Let all the anger out.'

The new furniture of the foyer began to levitate and the marble on the floor began to crack and the walls were being torn apart. The mansion rumbled and shook with a tremendous force.

"What's going on?" I questioned aloud. "I'm not doing this. I can't be doing this."

'You're not, I am,' the voice in my head clarified.

"Who are you?" I yelled.

'I've been in your head for quite a while Semina,' the voice said. 'Watching you grow, learning your limits and pushing your powers to its maximum. You should know who I am by now, dear _sister_.'

My eyes widened as I said 'No, no it can't be! You're supposed to be dead!'

'My body may be dead but not my mind,' the voice said. 'I've been waiting seventeen years for your anger to reach its limit and now that it finally has, _I'm_ taking over.'

"I'm not letting you take over my body," I retaliated.

The throbbing in my head increased and the voice cackled. 'You can't stop me.'

In a desperate attempt to stop destroying the mansion any further, my feet carried me down to the rebuilt Danger Room. I approached the keypad to enter the code and after putting it in, the keypad exploded. I stumbled inside and groaned. With the keypad destroyed, the Danger Room's automated defense system has activated because it thinks I'm an intruder. Lasers fired, tentacles shot out at me, rotating knives and maces were unleashed and buzz saws were deployed. However, there were all deflected by a telekinetic shield.

'I can't have you getting killed now can I?' the voice said. 'Then I wouldn't have a body to control.'

"Sierra, don't do this," I pleaded.

'You're too late,' Sierra cackled. 'I'm already in control of your body. All I have to do now is take over your mind.'

On the mansion level

Everyone in the institute was headed inside after finishing up the repairs outside in the yard. Scott pushed the door opened and gasped.

"PROFESSOR!" he yelled. "Everyone! There's something you should see!"

Everyone pushed in through the doors and were shocked. The foyer had been completely wrecked. The stairs were collapsed in. The marble floor had gaping holes in them and furniture was overturned, broken and wildly strewn.

"Oh, my," Ororo said. "Who could have done this? There was no one inside!"

"Well, I saw Semina head inside a little while ago," Kitty said. "She looked angry but she's looked angry for months now!"

"She couldn't have done this," Jean said, shaking her head. "She doesn't have her powers."

"They should be coming back by now but there's no way they could be this strong already," Beast told them with an intense face.

"The only time Semina causes this much damage is when she loses control of her telekinesis," Anthony said. "And that only happens when she's angry!"

"What could've upset her enough to do this?" Logan asked.

Logan heard receding footsteps and said "Rogue? Is there something you want to tell us?"

Rogue stopped and sheepishly turned back to face their inquisitive faces. "Well, she kinda sorta went to go talk to Pietro."

"WHAT?" everyone exclaimed.

"Of course," the professor said. "He's the only person in Bayville who could anger Semina enough to lose control."

"Why does she even want to see him?" Evan snapped.

The mansion rumbled once more with more intensity and a couple of students fell to their feet.

"It doesn't matter what the details are," Scott yelled. "We need to focus on stopping her. I want everyone suited up and outside the Danger Room in five minutes. That's where the I feel the most force coming from. And I do mean _everyone_. X-Men and New Mutants. Let's move, people!"

After everyone suited up and stood outside the entrance to the Danger Room.

"Semina trashed the keypad," LaToya said. "How're we gonna get in?"

"Jean," Scott said as she nodded in understanding.

Using her telekinesis, Jean parted the heavy metal door with some difficulty.

"I can't keep it open for much longer," Jean said with a strained voice. "Go now!"

Everyone piled in and gasped at the horror. Every weapon of the Danger Room lay scattered on the ground destroyed. And Semina was in the far corner on her knees clutching her head.

"Get out of my head!" I yelled. It was taking everything in my power to stop Sierra from taking over and I was starting to get weaker.

'Not a chance,' Sierre scoffed. 'I feel you weakening. Just give up. Your friends might get hurt.'

I opened my eyes and saw everyone in the mansion making their way toward me.

"No! Stay. Away!" I yelled as I struggled to keep my concentration. "You-You have to leave. I-I can't control her anymore! She's trying to take over!"

"Semina, we're here to help," the professor said. "Who's trying to take over?"

"Sierra," I replied. I was still fighting to keep her at bay but it was getting harder and harder by the second.

'Semina, just stop trying to fight it,' Sierra said. 'You're a weakling!'

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" I demanded as I clutched my head tighter. My body floated up into the air and levitated above them all. The scattered weapons on the ground floated up with me and flew around my body in a circle.

"Semina, we know why you are angry, but you need to calm down," Ororo said.

"Pietro isn't worth your anger!" LaToya yelled.

'Pietro is the reason you're losing control and hurting your friends,' Sierra said. 'Let me take over and I can stop the destruction.'

What she said caught me off guard and made me briefly lose my concentration. But a brief moment was all Sierra needed. I let out a scream and I felt my mind switching places with Sierra's in the far corner of my mind. A telekinetic blast was released from my body that sent everyone flying into the wall and sending my own body crashing toward the ground.

"Is everyone alright?" Cyclops yelled. Everyone nodded in agreement and their heads snapped toward Semina when they heard throaty laughter escaping her throat.

The laughter turned into a sinister chuckle and she said "Finally. I'm out."

A/N: Oooooooh! This is gonna get good. See, I didn't forget that I mentioned Sierra many chapters ago. The explanation of who Sierra is, is coming up in the next chapter along with why she wants to take over Semina's body. Review this chapter and tell me what you thought! And I've decided to update and add a new chapter to this story every Thursday and Sunday so check back on those days for more!


	30. Sierra Takes Over

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! If you didn't catch it yet, Semina mentioned Sierra in chapter nine after her brother and sister joined the team. It's at the end of the chapter and she's thinking about it so there it is if you couldn't find it. Now, let's see who Sierra is and what she wants. ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution or any song used in this story, so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

Sierra Takes Over

"It feels great to have a body," Sierra said rising to her feet. "Semina has kept this one in great shape."

"What are you talking about, Semina?" Jean asked.

"My name isn't Semina," Sierra snapped. "It may be the name of the person who's body this is but my name is Sierra."

Confusion crossed everyone's faces and Sierra sighed.

"Anthony, LaToya, I'm surprised at you two," Sierra chuckled. "You don't look happy to see your little sister. Don't you recognize me?"

They shook their heads 'no'.

"I see that I'm going to have to explain," Sierra began. "Get comfy. It's a long story. Seventeen years ago, when our dear mother was pregnant with Semina, she was expecting twins. Me being Semina's identical twin sister."

"Twin?" Anthony began.

"Sister?" LaToya finished.

"I'm guessing she never told either of you," Sierra smirked. "I can see why. Semina and I were monoamniotic twins meaning we shared the same amniotic sac. It's the reason why Semina was premature. You see, twins are supposed to have separate sacs because if they shared the same one it could create problems...and it did. We developed Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) which caused most of the nourishment we needed to only travel through Semina's umbilical cord. With my own body not receiving nutrients, it died. But right before it did, my mind was transferred into Semina's head where I stayed for the last seventeen years. Our parents buried my infant body under the name 'Sierra Johnson'. Johnson being our mother's maiden name because she didn't want to use Wilson. Keeping my death a secret was important to her and father. Where I'm buried is actually pretty ironic because I'm buried next to Andre. Another twin that's dead."

"So we have a sister we never knew about?" LaToya questioned in disbelief. "Why didn't our parents tell us?"

"Would _you_ want to tell three toddlers that their baby sister was dead?" Sierra asked, her voice dripping with rhetoric.

"All these years you've been living in Semina's head?" Anthony inquired.

"Correct," Sierra deviously smiled.

"What do you want now that you've taken control of Semina's body?" Professor X asked.

"To make a couple of people pay," Sierra snarled. "I'm the part of Semina that does the things she can't do. I'm the manifestation of her hatred for the people who have deeply wronged her. Basically, I'm the part of her that's evil and I want _revenge_. And there are some people Semina hates with all of her being and I'll be the one to slaughter them all. I could only be released through her anger and now that I am all of her telekinetic power is mine to control."

"Not unless we stop you!" Cyclops yelled.

"Oh really? I guarantee none of you are as powerful as I am," Sierra told them. "Are any of you foolish enough to attack me so I can provide you with a demonstration?"

Spyke was the first to attack and shot spikes from his arm that he aimed at Sierra. She smirked and sent them flying back at a fast speed and stopped them just inches from his face.

"To be honest, Evan," Sierra began. "Semina secretly hates you. She's never told anyone because she has to tolerate with you being on the team and all. She thinks that you're taking your hate of Pietro out on her just because they were dating. Personally I hate you too. I'm pretty sure everyone does. Oops, did I say all of that out loud?"

"Jeez, zhat vas harsh,' Nightcrawler said.

"You know Kurt, I know what Mina thinks of you too," Sierra said. "She loves you like a brother but she never told you that when she first came to the mansion she had a bit of a crush on you. If she hadn't met Pietro, she'd probably be dating you."

"Really?" Nightcrawler questioned, a look of bewilderment and a slight blush on his blue face.

"Mmm hmm. In fact I know what Semina thinks of all of you," Sierra said. "I know you're all dying to know! I would tell you but I have some things to do and people to kill. Ta ta!"

Sierra began to walk toward the exit before everyone surrounded her. "Oh, so we're doing this the hard way then? Fine by me." Sierra cracked her knuckles and went for Jean first. She flew toward her and punched her square in the jaw. Jean went flying back and hit her head on the hard metal wall where she blacked out. Spyke attacked her again but she used the spikes he launched at her to pin him to the wall.

"Pathetic," Sierra spat.

Cyclops turned the dial on his visor and fired at Sierra. The blasts were deflected by the shield she had up and hit him and Nightcrawler who was standing in the way of the blast as well.

"You know what? Just so you guys can have some chance of beating me, I think I'm gonna drop my shield," Sierra said obviously toying with them. "I don't even need to my empathy because it'd be useless in this fight. I'll beat you with just telekinesis."

Storm swept Sierra up in a tornado that carried her up and spun her around. Sierra flew in the opposite direction of the tornado and sent it flying at Storm who got caught in her own creation.

"That's five down," Sierra said.

Rogue attacked next by charging for Sierra and swinging her arm for a punch. Sierra blocked and the two exchanged blows until Sierra swept Rogue's feet from under her then sent her flying across the room. She then felt her self sink through the floor and saw Shadowcat pulling her down. Sierra's body was now halfway phased into the floor. She flung Shadowcat away from her and broke herself free by creating a hole around her waist.

"You're all wasting my time," Sierra yelled before she set her eyes on Logan. "I wanna fight Wolverine!"

"Is she crazy?" Siren asked. "He'll dice her to pieces!"

"Maybe, if he has the balls to fight me," Sierra snickered.

"I'm not gonna hurt a seventeen year old girl," Wolverine growled as he retracted his claws.

"Oh that's too bad, 'cause I wanna hurt you!" Sierra deviously laughed as she levitated Wolverine off the ground and flung him into a wall, over and over and over again. She then began to pin his body to the wall under a massive amount of telekinetic pressure. "I expected better from you, Wolverine."

Just then, a super sonic scream echoed through the room. The scream was aimed at Sierra who flew back from it's intensity and become dizzy and disorientated.

"Iceman, freeze her before she can recover!" Siren yelled. Iceman froze Sierra's entire body from head to toe leaving her completely trapped in ice on the floor of the Danger Room. The remaining mutants surrounded her and looked at her in complete shock.

"I can't believe she took out almost half of the team by herself," Beast marveled.

"What should we do with her now?" Stone asked. "Can you bring Semina's mind back in control?"

"It will be difficult but I think it's possible," Professor X replied. "Going into her mind alone could take some time. I tried it earlier but something's blocking me. If she were to be unconscious I could easily get in but I'll need help."

"From who?" Siren asked.

"I'll need Vivian's assistance getting in and Pietro's help on calming her down," Professor X replied. "If Pietro made her angry, he can calm her down too. It may sound a bit unorthodox but it's our best chance on getting Semina to regain control."

A cracking sound was heard and everyone looked down at Sierra's frozen form to see cracks forming. Her ice prison shattered and she pushed everyone away with a telekinetic wave.

"Clever," Sierra smirked, amused by their efforts. "Don't try it again though because then I might get angry. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go change. I can't play my little game of torture in jeans. And because this is a game I'll give Wolverine a clue on where I'm headed first. Let's just say, that I'll Nick Fury and your old buddies that you said 'Hi'. And to make sure you don't follow me..."

Sierra stretched her arms out in front of her and made a large, gaping hole between the exit of the Danger Room before flying out of the door, manically laughing.

"What did she mean by that?" Shadowcat asked.

"Nick Fury is the director of S.H.I.E.L.D," Wolverine said. "She must be going to one of the prisons."

"Why would she be headed there?" Iceman asked.

Rogue gasped and said "I know why! Think about it, guys. Who got taken into S.H.I.E.L.D custody after the Sentinel fiasco?"

"She's going after Bolivar Trask," Professor X exclaimed.

"SH.I.L.E.D agents will capture her before she can even reach his cell," Wolverine growled. "We need to move now!"

"How're we supposed to get out?" Spyke asked. "There's a giant hole in front of the door!"

"Already taken care off," Iceman said as he froze a thick layer of ice in place of the hole.

"Good job, Iceman," Cyclops said. "Everyone to the jet hanger!"

When they reached the hanger, they all looked in surprise to see the X-Jet already gone. A note lay of the floor that read "You really didn't expect me to fly there using my telekinesis did you?"

"We'll have to take the XM-Velocity," Cyclops said. "Siren, Iceman, Magma and Berserker, you're coming with us. The rest of you will remain here until we get back."

After they boarded the X-Jet, Storm and Beast flew out from the tennis court and tried to track Sierra's movement in the X-Jet. Vivian who had just heard what happened nervously bit her lip in an attempt to calm herself down. Her sister had told her about Sierra being born stillborn but she never would have expected that Sierra's mind would transfer her mind into Semina's head.

"Where is Bolivar Trask being held?" Beast asked.

"A maximum security S.H.I.E.L.D prison in upstate New York," Wolverine said.

"We have to make a stop first," Professor X said. "Storm take us to the Brotherhood House. We need to retrieve Quicksilver."

Rather than protest, everyone kept quiet and let the professor handle it.

"We'll go get him," Vivian volunteered as she gestured toward Siren and Stone.

"Very well," Professor X agreed.

Vivian, Siren and Stone got off the jet and walked up to the Brotherhood who were standing outside gaping at the jet that just landed on their yard.

"What're you X-Geeks doing here?" Lance asked.

"We're here for him," Stone said pointing at Pietro. "We need your help Pietro."

"I'm not helping you guys especially after you threw me from miles away!" Pietro asked as he began to walk into the house. "So piss off!"

"It's Semina," Siren pleaded as Pietro froze in his tracks. "She's needs you or she's gonna get seriously hurt."

"Why should I care?" Pietro asked, with his back turned.

"She _needs_ you to save her," Vivian replied. "There's no one else who can. You guys are bonded, remember?"

Pietro let what he heard sink in before proceeding back into the house. Vivian stared at his retreating form and sighed deeply. They decided to head out without him but seconds later he came back fully dressed in his battle suit and holding something tightly in his hand. "Let's go."

* * *

After engaging the auto pilot to go change into Semina's battle suit, Sierra returned to the pilot chair's just as she approached the prison. "Engage stealth mode."

The X-Jet disappeared from the human eye and Sierra landed the jet in front of the prison before setting out on foot. She flung the two guards into a tree before levitating their key cards off of them and stealthily opening the door with them. Sierra tucked them into her belt in case she needed them again. She walked to the camera and blew the lens a kiss before crushing it. She ducked into the security office and pinned the guard to the wall.

"You can't be in here!" he shouted.

"Shut up," Sierra barked. She scanned the monitors and found Trask's cell. Sierra pointed to it and said "Tell me what level this prisoner is on or I'll explode you from the inside."

"Sub-Level D, Cell Block 17B," the guard sputtered.

"Besides Nick Fury, who has clearance on that level?" she asked.

"Maria Hill," he answered. "You can find her in her office up one level and three doors down to the right."

"Thanks for your cooperation," Sierra smiled before knocking him out with a punch. "But I can't have you alerting the other guards until I finish what Trask started."

Sierra moved quickly and quietly through the hall, crushing every camera in sight and knocking out every guard that got in her way to make her way up the stairs to Maria Hill's office. She knocked on the door and after Maria opened it she thrust her back into a wall.

"Maria Hill?" I asked as she nodded. "You don't know me but that doesn't matter. I'm here for your access card. There's a prisoner that I have to have a little chat with."

"What makes you think I'll give you the card?" Maria asked.

"Who said I was gonna ask you for it?" Sierra smirked as she levitated the card over to her. "Thanks!"

Sierra released her grip on her but not before taking the bronze statute in her office and dropping it on her head. The blow wouldn't kill her but she wouldn't be getting up for a while.

Sierra swiped the card in the elevator and selected Sub-level D. As soon as the elevator door closed she heard an alarm blaring and a voice that said "INTRUDER ALERT! ALL GUARDS DOWN TO SUB-LEVEL D!"

"I should've hit that stupid guard harder," Sierra sighed. She cracked her neck just as the door opened and deflected all the lasers that came flying at her. Pushing the guards back with a telekinetic wall, Sierra charged into the cell block and knocked guards out of her way. She put herself in a telekinetic bubble and flew toward Cell Block 17B but not before forcefully opening the cell doors and trapping all the guards inside. Once she came upon the right cell, she landed and tapped the metal bar to get his attention. Trask turned around and widened his eyes in surprise before narrowing them in hate.

"How did you get in here?" Trask hissed. "What do you want from me?"

"Bolivar Trask, long time no see," Sierra deviously snarled. "My name is Sierra and I'm here to kill you."

* * *

"Taken over by her dead twin sister who's been living in her head since she was born?" Quicksilver questioned. "She said her birth was special but I never expected this."

"I just hope it's not too late, " Professor X said as they landed in front of the prison.

"X-Men and Quicksilver, let's go," Cyclops commanded as they got off the jet and raced into the prison only to be faced with hundreds of guards and Nick Fury standing in front of them all.

"Hold your fire," Fury yelled before walking up to Wolverine. "You mind telling me why there's a teenage girl taking down my guards and breaking into the most secure part of my prison?"

"Long story but we're here to stop her," Wolverine said. "No one else can take her down except him."

Pietro stepped forward and Fury laughed "This scrawny little pretty boy is gonna take that rogue mutant down? Be my guest but you have thirty minutes before I send in every man I have here."

"Let's move out," Cyclops shouted. "Jean where is she?

"I can sense her mind in the sub levels," Jean responded with her fingers to her temple. "Level D!"

After quickly moving through a series of hallways and down the elevator, they found Sierra torturing Bolivar Trask. Her eyes were glowing white and she was furious.

"You killed Semina's baby so now I'm gonna kill you," Sierra growled as she continued to pull Trasks' limbs apart with her powers. The force she was applying to his body was slowly pulling his arms and legs out of their sockets. "A life for a life. Karma's a mutant bitch, isn't it?"

"Sierra, put him down!" Siren yelled.

"Why should I?" Sierra asked. "This is good for all of us. If he dies, no more Sentinels!"

"That's true," Spyke shrugged before everyone cast him a glare. "What? You all know it is! None of you want to fight a Sentinel again do you?"

"Precisely the reason why I'm nipping the problem in the bud," Sierra laughed. "After you're dead, Magneto is next."

"You'll never be able to find Magneto," Quicksilver snorted. "Only I know where he is!"

'He was clever enough to hide his base in an empty building in Long Island,' Quicksilver thought. 'She'll never be able to guess where he is."

"I don't have to guess, Pietro. You just told me!" Sierra smirked as she dropped Bolivar Trask, who fell to ground writhing in searing pain. He wasn't dead but he was might as well be with all the pain he's in.

"But how did you-?" Quicksilver asked, shocked.

"I have my powers which means I can hear the link between you and Semina's mind," Sierra said before throwing her head back in laughter. "I knew the X-Men would ask you for help and I used it as an opportunity to figure out where Magneto is hiding. Thanks for the help, lover. Catch me if you can, X-Men!"

Sierra pushed all of the X-Men out of her way and made a hole from the side of the prison wall serving as a door. As the dust cleared, Wolverine grabbed Quicksilver by the neck and said "You better be able to get Semina back or I'm gonna make sure you never run again. Got it?"

"Y-yes sir," Quicksilver agreed before Wolverine dropped him.

"So where is she headed?" Jean asked.

"To an abandoned building in Long Island," Quicksilver replied. "We have to hurry because father's got his Acolytes with him."

* * *

Sierra landed the XM-Velocity a block away from Magneto's hideout. Had she taken the X-Jet, Magneto would have sensed her coming from miles away. She doubted the X-Men would be happy about the jet switch but she didn't care. There was work to be done. Sierra flew up and entered through the open window. She scanned the room and saw Gambit playing pool with Colossus while Pyro played with his lighter. Magneto and Sabertooth were no where in sight.

'First things first,' Sierra thought as Pyro caught her eye. 'Take out the guy who could trigger Mina's memories.'

Sierra picked up the pool table Gambit was playing on and whacked Pyro with it. Just to make sure he was out, she dropped the table on top of his unconscious body. Gambit and Colossus looked at him in confusion before Gambit spotted Sierra perched on the windowsill.

"Knock, knock. Can I play too?" Sierra asked as she levitated down in front of them.

"As long as you don't mind playing spades," Gambit smirked in his Cajun accent before throwing a couple of cards toward her.

Sierra dodged them before floating his deck toward her. "Looks like you're out of cards."

"Who said I needed cards, petite femme?" Gambit asked as he picked up a pool ball, charged it and threw it like a grenade. Before she could react, the ball exploded at her feet sending her flying back into something hard and metal. Colossus grabbed her by the arms to restrain her.

"I am sorry for being so rough," Colossus apologized, his Russian accented voice lined with sympathy. "I hope I am not hurting you."

"No, not at all," Sierra said. "You're a true gentleman, Piotr."

"We're taking you to see the boss man," Gambit said.

'That's exactly what I was hoping you'd do,' Sierra chuckled in her head.

They walked into a big metal room where they found Magneto, sitting at a desk reading the paper. Without looking up he asked "What do you want?"

"We found this petite X-Man sneaking into the building," Gambit said. "Pyro's already been taken out."

Magneto looked up to see Sierra smirking.

"Sneaking into the building you say?" Magneto skeptically asked.

"Yes, sir," Gambit proudly said.

"Why are you here, Semina?"Magneto asked.

"I'm here to kill you," Sierra replied.

"You're going to kill me?" Magneto chuckled. "And how do you plan on doing that?"

"Like this," Sierra answered before using her telekinesis to break free of Colossus' grip.

Sierra released a wave of energy that made everything in the room fly backwards. She walked toward Magneto and began to squeeze his throat beneath her telekinetic grip. Magneto, who could never be that easily brought down, sent his desk flying at her. Sierra widened her eyes and felt the desk collide with her body. After knocking Sierra to the ground, he made metal spikes out of the ceiling and sent them down on her. Sierra put her arms in front of her and stopped them from impaling her head. She rolled out of the way and jumped back to her feet. Sierra flew out of the door but was stopped by metal restraints that shot out of the wall and wrapped themselves around her arms, legs, and waist.

"Don't you ever think for a second that you can defeat me," Magneto hissed.

Sierra loosened the restraints trapping her and replied "And don't you ever think that you can underestimate me."

Sierra used Magneto's own restraints against him and wrapped them around his neck. She tightened them and she could begin to hear the bones in his neck bend. She telekinetically pinned his hands down to keep him from freeing himself.

"We all know how this is gonna end, so I hope you enjoyed living your pathetic life," Sierra cackled as her eyes glowed a bright white.

"You're...not...Semina," Magneto struggled to say. He felt his esophagus slowly closing and blocking his airway.

"Took ya long enough to realize that," Sierra smiled. "I'm Sierra. Nice to meet and end you."

Magneto's eyes drifted away from her and she followed his gaze. Sierra saw nothing but when she looked back to him, there was nothing there. On the other side of the room, Shadowcat came through the floor with Magneto. A blast hit her in the back followed by a painful electrical shock. Sierra fell to the floor before lifting her head to see Cyclops and Berserker walking toward her. Berserker was still shocking her so she couldn't move very much from her place on the ground. She was getting weaker with each passing second so she did the only thing she could do: play possum.

"Stop! Stop! I give! Please, you're hurting me," Sierra cried out.

"That's enough Berserker," Cyclops said.

As she felt the pain fade away Sierra flew up and said "You X-Men are so gullible. Just give it up. I have you beat."

"Ve von't stop until Semina's back in control," Nightcrawler yelled.

"Suit yourself," Sierra shrugged as she flew toward them.

"That's enough, Sierra," a voice yelled out that stopped Sierra in mid flight.

"Aunt Vivian," Sierra said as she looked toward her. "Glad to see Semina found you."

"You need to stop and let Semina take control of her body again," Vivian urged. "Let me help you."

"I don't want to be stuck in the back of Semina's mind any longer!" Sierra yelled. "I'm not going back and nobody is gonna stop me from being free!"

Just then Pyro regained consciousness and pushed the table off of him. "Oy. Me head. What 'appened?" Pyro looked around to see a room full of X-Men and a familiar girl floating above them all. "You're the little sheila that knocked me out!"

"How could you have come to so quickly?" Sierra asked, surprised. "Is your head made of concrete?"

"Nope, I just 'ave a thick skull," Pyro said as he clicked his lighters and made ten feet tall flames.

"Ooh, fire. It's so scar-" Sierra began before her head began to throb. Her hands flew up to her head as her eyes widened in fear. "N-no. This is impossible!"

"What's happening?" Berserker asked.

"It's her pyrophobia," Jean said.

"G-guys," I strained to get out.

"Semina?" Vivian hopefully questioned.

I nodded my head and said "You have t-to knock me unconscious. It's the only way to-AHH!" My mind had brief control over my body before Sierra took the reins again.

"That's better," Sierra said. "Get back in your cage, Semina. I'm running the show from now on."

"Did you see that?" Cyclops said.

"Semina had control but just for a split second," Shadowcat pointed out. "It's like Semina's most prominent memories fights off Sierra's control."

"Semina's mind is still in there we just need to find a way to get it out," Rogue said before taking off her glove. "I'll knock 'er out and-"

"Yes, go ahead, Rogue," Sierra interrupted. "Absorb me. Semina's mind will be in control again but then I'll just transfer my mind to your body. Then I can drain the life out of Magneto. So be my guest and_ do it_."

"She's right," Vivian said. "The only way to get Semina back is to go in her head and stop Sierra from the inside."

"Too bad, you won't be able to knock me out to do it," Sierra yelled before someone pounced on her and yanked her hair to throw her into a wall.

"I don't appreciate being woken up from my nap," Sabertooth growled.

Sierra touched her scalp in pain. "Again with the hair pulling! Do you always have to go after her hair? How would you like it if I pulled your fur?"

"Go ahead and try!" Sabertooth snarled as he pounced again. Sierra easily stepped him in mid air and threw him out through an open window where she heard the splash of Sabertooth falling into water.

"Oops! I forgot cats don't like water. Oh well, I'll be at _home_ if you need me," Sierra sinisterly laughed before flying toward the XM-Velocity then caving the ceiling down on them.

"Is anyone hurt?" Cyclops coughed.

"No, everyone seems fine," Vivian said as she pulled herself and Nightcrawler out of the wreckage.

"So after all of this, she's just going back to Bayville?" Spyke exclaimed. "Unbelievable!"

"No, she's not," Quicksilver said as he walked in the now destroyed warehouse.

"I thought we told you to wait in the jet!" Vivian snapped.

"I hate waiting," Quicksilver shrugged.

"Pietro? What are you doing here?" Magneto demanded, an angry look on his face.

"I'm trying to save Semina," Quicksilver retorted.

"You must've forgotten our little agreement," Magneto said.

"No, but I haven't," Quicksilver replied. "But that doesn't matter right now."

"I forbade you to associate with her and now you're trying to save her?" Magneto fumed. "This is unacceptable!"

"I love her, father!" Quicksilver shouted, stunning the X-Men with his bold acclamation. "You would've done the same for Vivian back when you two were together. You probably loved her just as much as I love Semina now."

Magneto and Vivian both turned apple red while everyone else looked on in sheer awe.

"Whoa. Whoa! WHOA!" Stone yelled. "You two used to date?"

"That was years ago," Vivian said blushing. "Not anymore. We actually hate each other now."

"I don't hate you per say," Magneto said still flustered. "I just hate what you did."

"And may I remind you that you killed him," Vivian flared.

"What I did was a little irrational but-" Magneto said.

"A little irrational? You killed an infant!" Vivian shrieked. "And then disappeared! I never even got to tell you the truth!"

"What was the truth, Vivian?" Magneto yelled. "That you fell in love with another man and had his child?"

"The baby was yours, Erik!" Vivian shouted. Everyone in the room seemed to gasp and their breath caught in their throats.

"The baby was-" Magneto began as his hard facial expression softened. "And I killed him."

"And you wonder why I hate the sight of you," Vivian spat.

"See that! That's why I'm trying to save Semina, father," Quicksilver said. "I don't want us to end up like you two."

"Do what you please," Magneto said, his voice slightly cracking. "I can't stop you from trying to help her."

"Then let's go because I know where to find her," Quicksilver said.

"If she's not going home to Bayville where is she going?" Iceman asked.

"She said she's going home right? She's actually going _home_," Quicksilver explained. "To Richmond."

"Crap!" Siren and Stone explained.

"She's going after mom," Stone said. "Semina probably hates her mom more than Magneto."

"We have to stop her before she..." Siren said before paling at the thought. "WE NEED TO GO NOW!"

Everyone ran toward the X-Jet but Magneto caught Vivian's arm.

"Viv, we need to talk," Magneto pleaded.

"It's too late, Erik," Vivian said wriggling from his grasp. "Sixteen years too late."

* * *

Sierra landed the XM-Velocity in front of Semina's parents house in Richmond, Virginia. She walked to the doorstep fully aware of the stares she was receiving from the neighbors and knocked on the door. Her dad answered the door and looked behind her at the jet parked in the street in broad daylight then to her.

"Semina, what a surprise," her dad exclaimed. "Come in."

"Thanks dad," Sierra replied. "Where's mom? I need to talk to her."

"She's in the den," her dad said with a raised eyebrow. "What do want to talk about?"

"Just something that happened when I was younger," Sierra said as she brushed past him into the den but not before knocking him out with a blow to the head. "Hello mother."

Her mom looked up and sneered. "Semina. What do you want?"

"Oh nothing really," Sierra said as she began to levitate her mom off the chair. "I just want to talk."

"Put me down this instant!" Estelle cried out.

"No, because you didn't ask nicely," Sierra coyly said. "Matter of fact, you've never once asked Semina for anything nicely. You've treated her like shit ever since Andre died."

"Why are you talking in the third person?" Estelle asked.

"Because I'm not Semina," Sierra smirked.

"Who are you?" Estelle asked.

"Don't you recognize you're own daughter, mommy dearest?" Sierra asked. "Does the name 'Sierra Johnson' ring any bells?"

Estelle's eyes widened and she sputtered "But how is this possible? We buried you when you were a baby!"

"My mind was transferred into Semina's head before I died in your stomach," Sierra explained. "And speaking of dead babies, did you know Semina had a miscarriage? Of course you didn't! You hate her!"

"I don't hate her," Estelle cried. "I-I just-"

"See that, you can't even make up a lie that you really do love her," Sierra growled as she flew closer to her mother.

"I do love Semina!" Estelle cried.

"She doesn't seem to think so," Sierra snidely said. "It's hard to believe your mother loves you when she constantly belittles and insults you."

Sierra slammed Estelle into a floor and yelled "Is Semina weak now?" She lifted her off the floor then slammed her into a wall. "Is she still worthless?" Sierra forced Estelle into the ceiling making cracks in it from the pressure. "Is she good enough for you?" Sierra levitated Estelle over to her and screamed "DO YOU LOVE HER NOW MOM?"

"You're not my daughter, you're an evil monster!" Estelle screamed. "Stay away from me!"

Sierra floated a long, sharp knife from the kitchen and floated it up to her mother's neck. "I will once you're six feet under and I'm spitting on your grave."

"Sierra stop it!" Nightcrawler yelled as he and the X-Men burst through the door. "You don't vant to do zhis!"

"I haven't been doing anything Semina hasn't wanted herself," Sierra said as she inched the knife closer to her neck. "Why do you think she hasn't stopped me yet? She _wants_ me to do this!"

"You know this is wrong so why are you doing it?" Jean asked.

"One because I'm evil and two because I enjoy the sensation I get when I'm about to cause others pain," Sierra said as she slightly pressed the knife into Estelle's neck causing a tiny stream of blood to trickle down. "It makes me happy to see the fear in peoples eyes."

"You're sick!" Quicksilver yelled.

"Coming from the boy who fucks everything that moves, that doesn't hurt so bad," Sierra said. "Now leave me to take care of this old witch!"

Stone tackled Sierra out of the air and they crashed into a table. The knife she was holding fell harmlessly to the ground. Estelle scrambled off the ground and ran behind the crowd of mutants for protection. Stone tried his best to pin Sierra down but Sierra levitated him off of her. She threw the glass table at Stone who simply shattered it with a punch. Quickly remembering what Shadowcat said about triggering Semina's memories, he grabbed a picture of Semina off of the mantle.

"Look! Remember this Semina? Your class picture in sixth grade?" Stone said as he held up the picture frame. "You were worried that your pimple would show up in the picture but mom found a way to hide it with your hair. It was your best school picture yet. Remember?"

Sierra floated the picture over to her and studied it closely. She ran a finger over the glass and said "Back when mom didn't hate her. Before she got her powers."

Her eyes began to soften and the white glow dimmed down before her eyes filled with rage again. "Her powers! After she got her powers is when you started hating Semina! You hate Semina's powers, mom? Well I'll show you want those powers can do!"

Sierra put her hands up and began to tear the house apart. The house violently lurched in all directions, ceiling above them crumbled and chairs, picture frames, the T.V, everyone in the house and everything else that wasn't secured on the floor flew around Sierra who had her head thrown back in insane laughter.

"Sierra! Put us down!" Vivian demanded.

"Have it your way!" Sierra shouted. She levitated everyone through the roof high into the air before releasing her control over them. Without her telekinesis holding them up, they all began plummeting to the ground.

"Jean!" Cyclops yelled.

Jean struggled as she stopped everyone just inches from the ground. Wolverine's ear perked up and he groaned at the sound of police sirens.

"The police are about seven blocks away. This is getting out of hand!" Wolverine yelled. "She's gonna start destroying everyone and everything in her path if we don't stop her!"

"Why can't Semina regain control of her own body?" Magma asked. "Stone tried triggering her memories but that didn't work!"

"It's because we haven't found the right memories yet," Siren said. "We need something that only the real Semina would react heavily to. If we can't get her back in control there's no telling what Sierra will do next or who she'll go after and Semina can't stop her by herself."

"Thta's true but I'm afraid Sierra is right, Semina actually does have the power to regain control but for some reason Semina just can't seem to bring herself to do it," Beast said. "Deep down there _is_ a part of Semina that wants all these people to be gone forever. And with the amount of power Sierra has, she can do just that."

"Wait a second!" Quicksilver and Vivian exclaimed.

"There's something nobody has noticed yet," Quicksilver said.

"Have any of you seen Sierra use telepathy or water manipulation?" Vivian asked.

Everyone widened their eyes and put their heads together.

"Sierra has been using nothing but telekinesis to beat us but she hasn't used any of Semina's other powers," Vivian said. "It's because she can't."

"She has a point," Rogue said. "Remember whenever Semina would get upset, she couldn't control her telekinesis."

"And whenever someone around her got angry, she couldn't stop her empathy from picking it up," Shadowcat added.

"Semina couldn't control zhose powers because zhey vere never hers to control!" Nightcrawler exclaimed. "It vas Sierra doing all of zhat!"

"How is any of this gonna help stop Sierra though?" Iceman asked.

"Think about, Iceman," Spyke began. "If she can't access either one of those powers then she can't defend herself from a mental attack."

"But the professor and I are being blocked," Jean said. "How would we possibly get in her head?"

"I haven't tried getting into her head yet," Vivian said. "I know that she'll let me in."

"Why you?" Berserker asked.

"Their are two people Sierra hasn't directly attacked through this drawn out battle," Vivian began. "Me and-"

"Pietro!" everyone exclaimed.

"She won't attack either one of them because Semina loves them more than anything or anyone," Stone said. "She can't bring herself to hurt them. Which is insulting to me and Siren but we all know Pietro is special to Semina no matter how badly he mistreats her."

Siren and Stone glared at Quicksilver who just shrugged.

"This is the plan: Quicksilver has the memories that can bring Semina's mind back and Vivian has the power to enter her mind," Cyclops said. "But the problem still remains that she needs to be unconscious first."

"Let me take care of that," Quicksilver said. "I can do it."

Just then Sierra walked out of the half destroyed house and looked around. "You're still here? I thought you all went splat."

"Not exactly," Nightcrawler said.

"I hope you guys aren't too tired to fight me," Sierra yawned. "I need some entertainment."

Thee police pulled up to the house and all pointed their guns at Sierra. "Freeze! Don't move, mutie!"

"Don't shoot!" Vivian yelled.

"Alright! New play things," Sierra smiled as she put up a telekinetic bubbled to deflect the bullets that shot out at her when she flew into the air. She picked up the police cars and threw them around aiming them at the officers. She then put her hands out in front of her and began pulling the street apart. The police cars fell into the hole in the ground and some of the officers struggled to not fall in.

"Not that I'm done here, I think it's time to head back to Bayville," Sierra called out to them as she reboarded the XM-Velocity.

* * *

Sierra stood in the middle of the half destroyed Danger Room patiently awaiting the X-Men.

'You know they're gonna stop you right?' I told her through the bars of my small mental prison. 'It's just a matter of time before I have my body back.'

'Silly Semina, do you honestly think they can stop someone who's all powerful?' Sierra answered.

'All powerful huh? Then why don't you use my telepathy to knock them all out?' I asked. "Oh wait, you can't because you can't use my powers! Telepathy or water manipulation!'

'Shut up! Even without them, I'm still stronger than you,' Sierra barked.

'I doubt that,' I replied. 'I had some degree of control over all four of our powers combined but you can't handle _all_ of them. Who's stronger now?'

'Says the girl who's trapped in her own head,' Sierra smirked.

'Don't worry, I'll get out of her then I'm making sure you'll never be able to come out ever again,' I growled.

'We'll talk later, Mina,' Sierra said. 'The X-Men are here and it's time to end this battle. Once and for all.'

"We have been chasing you around for hours!" Stone yelled. "Are you ready to give Mina her body back?"

"Hmm, let me think," Sierra said as she picked up one the dismantled weapons and threw it at them. "Does that answer your question?"

Cyclops shot his optic blast at it and it shattered before it could hit them.

"Well, we brought in a few more people this time," Siren said as the Brotherhood, the Acolytes and Magneto entered.

"This is a pleasant surprise," Sierra smirked. "Why did you guys agree to help?"

"It's not that we're worried about Semina or anything," Blob said. "We were just bored."

"And we just hate you," Sabertooth growled. "We're all up for a little payback."

"Oh, did the wittle kitty not like his bath?" Sierra cooed before getting serious. "So be it. I can defeat all of you in the same place now. Come at me with all that you got and no holding back! But just remember this is Semina's body. Try not to cut it up that badly."

Sierra flew up into the air and directly at the New Mutants. Taking out the least experienced ones would be easy work for her. At least that's what she though. Berserker and Boom Boom fired at her with a combined attack that she easily dodged until Jean set up a telekinetic shield behind Sierra to deflect it back at her. The blasts hit her in the back charring Semina's battle suit but not damaging her skin. Sierra faltered slightly before taking the three mutants out with a swat of her hand which sent them crashing into the wall. Spyke shot three long spikes at Sierra and she made sure to dodge them because Magma had coated them in lava. Sierra landed and flung Magma across the room before kicking Spyke behind her. Sierra flew up again only to be shot down Cyclops. Holding her stomach where he hit her, she struggled to pick up Blob who was charging for her and threw him into Cyclops bringing Multiple and Sunspot down with him.

"Is this the best you got?" Sierra yelled, obviously getting angry. They were starting to become a bit of a problem for her.

"We're not even getting started," Avalanche yelled as he began to shake the ground. Sierra stumbled then fell to her feet. A crack opened up in the floor and Sierra would've fallen in if she hadn't grabbed the side of the hole. She pulled her self and glared at them before laughing.

"Is that it?" Sierra chuckled.

"Far from it," Gambit said as he charged the buzz saws that Colossus was holding. Colossus quickly threw them at Sierra and they exploded in front of her, sending her halfway across the room landing hard on the floor. She grabbed her left leg in pain before quickly letting it go.

"That's right," Sabertooth exclaimed. "I did shatter that leg didn't I?"

"So what?" Sierra panted as she struggled to get up. "You still can't beat me."

(Everyone attack Sierra from the left,) Professor X told them. (She can't move as fast on that side.)

Iceman made an ice ramp that led him and Rogue toward Sierra. Rogue had absorbed Blob's powers earlier so when she jumped off of the ice ramp, she punched Sierra in her left arm. Sierra went flying back into the wall and left a sizable dent. Sierra knew she was in pain but she shrugged it off. A telekinetic blast shattered the ice ramp and Rogue and Iceman plummeted to the ground. Shadowcat came up behind Sierra and phased her through the wall leaving half of her body exposed. Her hands were phased behind the wall but she put pressure on the wall and broke free. Storm created a lightning cloud above Sierra and shocked her. Magneto then used the metal in the walls to trap her arms and legs from moving.

"Are you trying to kill me?" Sierra laughed.

"We're not trying to kill you," Rogue smirked.

"More like slow you down," Siren smiled. "Because we know how to bring Semina back."

"What!" Sierra shrieked. "How do plan on doing that?"

"You can't hurt me and I know what memories to trigger to get Semina to take control again," Quicksilver said walking up to Sierra.

"I can't hurt you huh?" Sierra asked as she broke free from the metal keeping her on the wall.

"Why won't she stay down, yo?" Toad asked. "Shouldn't she be tired by now?"

"She is but she's trying her best to fight it," Professor X said. "If we don't stop her right now, Semina's body will give out from fatigue."

"Let's just see if I can't hurt you," Sierra yelled as she picked him up with her telekinesis. "And no running away."

With Quicksilver being levitated with her right hand, Sierra used her left hand to pick up a giant mace.

"You know Pietro, you broke Semina's heart," Sierra began. "You betrayed and abandoned her. She loved you and this is how you return her love. I'll admit that I do like you. You're evil, devious, manipulative and not afraid to hurt the ones you love to come out on top. You and I are alike in so many ways."

"No we're not!" Quicksilver snarled. "Semina if you can hear me, you need to get back in control. You're still in there and I'll prove it. Remember when we first met? You called me an egotistical jerk and told me that I could never win you over. Well I did! Remember when I took you to see Anarbor? Remember our date at the carnival? Remember our first kiss? Please Semina! You have to remember who you are! Where's the tough girl who wouldn't let herself get pushed around? Where's the Semina I fell in love with?"

"Bullshit! You don't care about Semina," Sierra hissed. "You never have!"

"I do care about her!" Quicksilver countered. He struggled to reach up to his neck and yank off a locket. "Do you remember the inscription on the back of the locket I gave you for Valentine's Day? Written on it is how I feel."

I struggled to take control again but when I finally did I choked out "Even if I don't say it, I do care about you." The glow in my eyes flickered on and off as Sierra and I fought for dominance.

"Exactly! See Semina! You _are_ in there," Quicksilver said.

"P-pietro, please h-help me," I pleaded. "I can't control her!"

"Yes you can, Semina," Vivian called from the other side of the room. "Remember what I always told you? You're always in control!"

"I'm always in-" I began before I was thrown back into my mental cage.

"What a nice speech, Pietro. Too bad, you have to die now!" Sierra brought the hefty mace down toward Quicksilver's head but her hand stopped just inches from his head. She tried bringing it down over and over again but she couldn't will herself to do it.

"What? No! Semina hates you! Why can't she hurt you?" Sierra asked.

I once again fought for control of my body and said "Because I love him, that's why! And I'm not going to let you control me any longer! I want you out of my head Sierra!"

"That's it Semina, fight her!" Quicksilver yelled. "Don't let her take over again!"

"I'm in control now!" Sierra yelled.

"No she's not Semina!" Quicksilver shouted. "You can do this!"

I clutched my head and struggled to say "I-I can do this!"

Sierra and I struggled for control which caused my body to involuntarily float into the air. Apparently neither of us were in control of my body or my powers now. Everyone in the room struggled to keep from being swept up in the telekinetic storm that was created, except Pietro who was coming toward it.

"Stay away from me!" Sierra and I both yelled.

"I'm not good at following directions," Quicksilver said as he got caught in the storm. Fighting against his intensity he struggled to make his way toward me. He reached out and grabbed my hand. Pulling himself up to grab my body, he secured himself behind me while clutching my waist.

"Don't worry, Semina, we're gonna get you back," he whispered before jamming his finger behind my right ear in the crook between the ear and neck. The storm began to calm down as I slipped into unconsciousness. Quicksilver and I fell to the ground where he cradled my unconscious body.

"What the hell did you do to her?"Anthony demanded.

"I know Semina's body better than anyone so I know her most sensitive pressure point," Pietro replied. He wistfully sighed and said "Found it one day when were making out in Lance's jeep."

Pietro heard growls, Lance exclaim "What!" and adamantuim claws that popped out with a "snikt".

"Not the best time to bring that up," Pietro nervously said. "So let's focus on Semina. She'll wake back up in about thirty minutes. So you guys better hurry."

"Are you ready, Charles?" Vivian asked.

"Yes, but I want Jean and Pietro to go with us," Professor X said. "Pietro's not a telepath but given their bond he's already in her head."

"Okay, put your hand anywhere on Semina's head and I'll take us in," Vivian said as they obeyed.

Inside Semina's head

The four arrived in front of a large steel wall, bigger than the one Semina previously had.

"Oh, my," Professor X said. "No wonder why it's difficult to go into Semina's head. This mental wall is extraordinary!"

"It's bigger than I remember," Vivian noticed. "Give me some time. Once we're past it, we'll find both Semina and Sierra."

Vivian aimed three expertly placed punches in the wall and it came crashing down.

"How did you do that?" Pietro asked. "That didn't look hard at all!"

"It was actually much harder than it looked," Vivian panted. "But then again, I am a little rusty."

"Let's proceed in," Professor X suggested.

The four of them walked through the foggy depths of Semina's mind until they came upon something that looked like a door.

"Is that the door that leads to the deepest part of Semina's mind, professor?" Jean asked.

"Very good, Jean. Yes it is," Professor X agreed. "The further we walk into Semina's mind, the further back her memories extend."

"We should find Semina and Sierra at the furthermost point of her mind," Vivian added. "That memory actually being the day she was born. The same place where Sierra's been all these years."

They passed through a mental hallway containing doors that were marked with all of Semina's memories. As it turns out, most of the doors are marked with memories of her and Pietro. He practically has his own mental hallway of memories of just him!

"Look at all these doors containing Mina's memories of Pietro," Jean marveled. "There are hundreds of them!"

"No wonder why she keeps telling people she can never forget me," Pietro said. "I'm basically all she thinks about!"

"Stop being so arrogant," Vivian snapped. "You're just like your father when he was younger."

"And I really hope Semina isn't like you when she's older," Pietro mumbled under his breath.

"Now really isn't the time for this," Professor X said. "We've arrived at the door."

The door was a pale pastel pink and covered in gold accents. It was marked "My Birth" and from the look, sound and feel of it, there was a fiercesome battle going on behind it.

"It sounds like they're really going at it," Jean remarked. "We better get in there before they hurt each other too badly."

They charged in the room to see Semina on the floor grappling with...Semina?

"Semina is fighting with Semina?" Pietro questioned beyond confusion.

"They're identical twins remember?" Vivian reminded. "Of course their astral projections would look the same."

"Semina, we're here to help," Professor X said.

"Professor! Thank God you're here!" they exclaimed.

"Really? They're gonna do _this_?" Pietro groaned.

"How do we tell which is the real Semina?" Jean asked. "Sierra knows all of Semina's memories so we can't test their knowledge on that!"

"I'm the real Semina!" they both shouted. They pointed to each other and screamed "That's Sierra!"

Professor X rubbed his temples and sighed. "We could be here for a while."

"Not if do something only the real Semina would react to," Pietro said as he walked up to one of the Semina's and kissed her.

I pushed Pietro off of Sierra and punched him in the arm. "What're doing kissing her?"

"Semina!" Pietro exclaimed as he hugged me. "I knew that the real Semina would either kiss me back or get jealous and hit me."

"Who said I would kiss you back?" I asked with a stern face and a raised eyebrow. "We're not like that anymore."

"Very clever, Pietro," Sierra said as she clapped. Her eyes lost their iris' and began to glow white. She smirked and said "Using Semina's weakness to tell us apart. Simply ingenious."

"It's over, Sierra," I hissed. "It's time I put you back in your place."

"You're putting me back in my cage?" Sierra inquired. "I've already escaped one. I can do it again. All you have to do is get angry. As long as you love Pietro, I'll be back in control of you're body in no time."

"Who said anything about putting you back in your cage?" I smirked. "Sierra I challenge you to a fight on the astral plane! Winner takes my body, loser stays on the astral plane."

"The astral plane!" Professor X and Vivian exclaimed.

"The what?" Pietro questioned.

"It's a level of existence that only telepaths can visit," Jean explained.

"If Semina loses and gets stuck on it, she can't return to her body," Vivian said.

"Exactly the reason why I don't plan on losing," I said.

"Are you sure you want to do this Semina?" Professor X asked, his face lined with worry. "The astral plane is a dangerous place to be and the risk of losing is far too great!"

"I have to do this, professor or Sierra will keep taking over," I explained. "We all know how angry I get and I can't let her control me again. So do we have a deal, Sierra?"

"I accept your challenge," Sierra said.

"You can't really be doing this!" Pietro exclaimed.

"I have to," I sighed.

I turned to leave but Pietro grabbed my arm, spun me around and hugged me tightly. He kissed my cheek and whispered "Be careful."

"I will," I replied as I squeezed his hand. I glared at Sierra before our minds jumped out of my body and onto the astral plane.

Professor X, Vivian, Jean and Piero retracted their minds from Semina's head and watched as Semina and Sierra's astral projections stared each other down. Everyone else looked at their projections in confusion.

"What're looking at right now?" LaToya asked. "Are they ghosts?"

"No they're astral projections," Professor X explained. "Semina and Sierra have decided to battle on the astral plane. Whoever wins gets control over Semina's body."

"She's wagering her body?" Anthony exclaimed. "What happens if she loses?"

"Then Semina has to remain on the astral plane," Vivian sighed.

On the astral plane

Sierra morphed her hands into spear heads and charged at me. I morphed my right arm into a shield and blocked her. After she bounced off the shield, I threw it at her and it made contact with her shoulder. Sierra flew across the plane and landed with a thud but quickly recovered and made a psychic katana sword. I made one as well and we charged for one another.

"You're not half bad," I complimented, as she swung for my head and missed.

"Neither are you," Sierra said as I forced my sword down on her only to have her own sword stop it. They rubbed together before we jumped apart from each other.

I threw my katana at Sierra and while she was distracted by dodging it, popped metal claws out of my hands, similar to Wolverine's, and slashed her across the chest twice.

"I have always wanted to do that!" I gushed. "No wonder why Logan enjoys likes his claws so much."

"For an X-Man, that was a pretty dirty move," Sierra said holding her chest.

"Just because I'm an X-Man doesn't mean I can't fight dirty," I smirked. "Especially in my own head."

"Then I guess I can do this then," Sierra said as she shot chains out of her heads and wrapped them around my neck.

The chains around my neck began to constrict my airway as they tightened. Even if i'm an astral projection I can still feel the pain. Sierra threw her hands up taking me and the chains up in the air then slamming me back to the ground. She cackled and pulled my body toward hers.

"Looks like you're going to lose, Semina," Sierra whispered. She spread the chains over my entire body keeping me from moving. Sierra morphed her fingers into knives and smiled evilly. "Have fun with your eternal stay on the astral plane."

"Semina!" Vivian shouted before she jumped into the astral plane herself. Her physical body fell limp and was caught by Magneto. Just as Sierra brought her hand down to stab Semina, Vivian turned her hand into a mallet and flew toward her. But before she could strike Sierra in the head her body and Sierra's body both froze.

"Do not interfere!" I shouted as I burst out from the chains keeping me down. "I can do this on my own!"

I sent a wave at my aunt sending her astral projection back into her body.

"This is between me and you Sierra," I growled. "I don't need or want anyway to save me."

"You probably should've accepted help," Sierra yelled as the knives in her fingers flew out and hit me in the chest. "Maybe then you would've stood a chance."

I dropped to my knees in pain and carefully plucked each knife out of my chest. Sierra turned her back to me and ran toward my physical body. She stuck her hand in my chest but I formed a whip in my hands and caught her ankle before she could enter my body.

"Did you really think it's be that easy?" I chuckled. "My body belongs to me and me alone!"

I then unleashed a barrage of psionic blasts that left Sierra screaming in mental pain. As she lay paralyzed on the plane floor, I dragged myself over to her and grabbed her by the hair to force her to look me in the eye.

"Don't you _ever_ for even a split second think that I'm weak," I hissed. "Because I will always be in control of my body."

I made a metal cell made of mental energy and surrounded it with heavy locks. I trapped Sierra inside to keep her from following me back in my head and sent a wave at the cell making it burst in an explosion of bright light then it disappeared. I jumped back into my body and felt a strange jolt run through me as my mind took control of my body but assumed that was normal.

I fluttered my eyes open as my eyes adjusted to the light in the Danger Room.

"Is that you, Semina?" Pietro asked. I threw my arms around his neck and he instantly knew the answer. He helped me to my feet but I could barely stand and fell into his arms.

"Sierra takes control of my body and doesn't even feed it," I whined. "Man, I'm hungry! Can someone make me a sandwich or something?"

"Yup, zhat's definitely Semina," Kurt smiled.

* * *

With the battle over, the Brotherhood and Acolytes returned to their separate bases, except for Pietro and Magneto. While I was being treated in the med bay and being fed, my aunt stood out in the hall with Magneto.

'Hmm, the astral plane?' Magneto silently questioned with a raised eyebrow. 'I had no idea Semina was powerful enough to enter it.'

"You're right. It takes a very powerful telepath to enter the astral plane," Vivian said, voicing Magneto's thoughts. "Even I'm impressed at how strong Semina's powers have become."

"Were you just-?" Magneto began to question.

Vivian shook her head and said "You're face says it all, Erik. I can read your mind without really reading it. Isn't it strange that Semina and Pietro are the same way?"

"Indeed," Magneto remarked. "They remind me a lot of us at that age. In fact, in both strength and looks, Semina and you could easily pass for mother and daughter."

"Yeah, well I don't have any kids," Vivian said, avoiding his gaze.

Magneto deeply sighed and said "Vivian, I didn't know what I was thinking at the time. It's just that you left me and..."

"And you were still in love with me?" Vivian questioned, although she already knew the answer. Magneto remained silent so Vivian said "Erik, I was still in love with you too but I couldn't love what you were becoming. I will always love Erik but I can _never_ love Magneto."

"That's who I am, Vivian," Magneto stated. "I can't change that and neither can you."

"I can't change what doesn't want to be changed," Vivian sighed. She reached in her shirt and pulled out a necklace which had a sparkling gold ring with a ruby red stone hanging off of it. "But no matter how much I try to fight it, Erik Lensherr will always have a place in my heart."

A tear rolled down Vivian's face but Magneto quickly brushed it away. They looked in each others eyes for a moment as if reliving their previous romance before Vivian looked away. Magneto turned and walked away without another word.

In the med bay

Pietro, who had watched the entire exchange between Magneto and Vivian, sat down next to Semina who was sleeping and looked at her face.

'Is that what we're destined to become?' Pietro thought. 'Hating each other even though we plainly have feelings for each other?'

Pietro dropped the locket in Semina's hand and curled her fingers to grasp it. He kissed her cheek and took once last long look at her before leaving the room.

A/N: Phew! What a long chapter! I don't know what to say about this chapter, so I'll let my readers do it. Hit the little review button and tell me what you thought! I'll give you guys a heads up now, they're not getting back together anytime soon. Keeping them apart is actually a good thing if you ask me. Just a few chappies left until I end the story. Read the next chapter to find out what happens next!


	31. Road To Recovery

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Don't forget to keep 'em coming! It's almost time to unleash _him_! But anyway here's the new chappie, ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution or any song used in this story, so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

Road to Recovery

"Back in my own room at last!" I exclaimed as I flopped on the fluffy bed I've missed.

Thanks to Sierra destroying the mansion, it took twice as long to finish the repairs but they were finally done and everyone could move back into their rooms. All the stuff in my old room was pretty much ruined but a few things managed to survive like half of my wardrobe, a couple of pieces of jewelry and a blue stuffed bull. The same bull Pietro won for me at the carnival. Not even the mansion blowing up can let me forget about our relationship but that's all in the past now. It's been easy to stay away from him because he was expelled from Bayville High but we still live in the same city so I can't completely avoid him. Not to mention I can hear his thoughts through our link.

A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts. "Come in!"

Logan walked in and said "The professor wanted me to tell you that ya got another training session at six."

"Thanks, dad," I smiled, still happy that I'm the only person that gets to call him that. Logan grunted in reply before leaving.

You see, about a couple of days of being in the med bay I got my telepathy and water manipulation back. Apparently, with Sierra banished to the astral plane I won't be getting my empathy or telekinesis back...ever. At least that's what Beast and Professor X said. With only two powers now, I can focus on my water manipulation which is much weaker than it was before I lost my powers. My telepathy has returned to full strength but I could barely do half the things I used to be able to do with my hydrokinesis. So now I have to retrain it back up to its original intensity but it's easier said than done. Solo training with the professor, my aunt and the other instructors has been brutal and I feel like I did when I first got that power back when I was thirteen! I think I've now come to fully appreciate my mutant abilities.

* * *

"Alright, Semina, today we're gonna see if you're able to absorb water from your surrounding area," Vivian said as she gestured to the trees in the yard.

I rubbed my hands together and said "Okay, I can do this!" I stretched my hands out and sensed the water located within the tree in front of me. I concentrated on releasing it and slowly brought my hands back toward my body, slowly but surely extracting the water. The leaves of the tree began to lose it's healthy green color and the bark became sickly brown and limp. Soon I had released all of the water from the tree and it lay on the ground in a dried out heap.

"Good job, now try to shape it into something," Vivian said.

"Anything particular?" I asked.

"Let's try something simple first," Vivian suggested. "A water disk."

I focused on the water I was controlling and began to make it into a flat discus shape. After a couple of twists of my hand, I was floating the disk of water in the air.

"Now make a whip," Vivian said.

I turned the disk of water back into it's original glob form then concentrated on thinning it out to make the whip. Within a couple f seconds I had formed a whip which I held in my hand.

"Can I try something harder?" I pleaded. "These are way too easy."

"Are you sure you can?" Vivian asked, a look of concern and skepticism on her face. "I don't want you to push yourself."

"I'll be fine," I reassured. "And I have the perfect thing to make."

I quickly got to work on the various lines, curves and 3d effects for my water masterpiece. I started from he floor up and about five minutes later, I had created an exact water based replica of my aunt.

"What do you think?" I grinned as I tried to even my breathing. I'm not sure why I got slightly winded doing something this easy.

Vivian walked around the water sculpture inspecting it closely and gasped when she looked at the face. "You even got the scar on my cheek right. Now I want you to freeze it."

I outlined my hands around the figures shape and slowly began transforming the water into solid ice. Soon, the figure stood next to my aunt, completely solid and very similar.

"I'm proud of you, Semina," Vivian commended. "Your powers are starting to progress and become stronger. Granted it's moving slowly but it is moving and that's the good thing."

"I just wish they would hurry up and get stronger already," I impatiently huffed. "So I can train with the X-Men again. I love the attention I'm getting from the instructors but I feel like I'm being babied."

"We're trying to make sure you don't strain yourself," Vivian said as she rested her hand on my shoulder. "Not trying to baby you. Once your ready you'll be back in the Danger Room in no time. And as much as I love the sculpture, turn it back into water and let's head back inside."

"Okay," I sighed as closed my eyes and rested a hand on the sculpture. It began to melt down into water and I let it soak into the ground.

We began to walk back inside but then I slapped my forehead and remembered that I slung my canteen on the tree branch. I doubled back to get it when it starting raining really hard. I put my hand over my head to make a water umbrella but something different happened. I looked up and widened my eyes in shock.

"Aunt Viv!" I shouted.

She along with a few other people in the mansion came racing out. They all looked at what I had done with wide eyes.

"Mina, what did you do?" Anthony asked.

"I don't know," I replied. "I just tried to make an umbrella and this happened."

"You've stopped every droplet of rain surrounding the mansion in mid fall," the professor said as he reached out and touched one.

"How is that even possible, professor?" Vivian questioned. "Her powers shouldn't be this strong already."

"It's a bit puzzling," Beast said as he rubbed his chin. "I can run some tests on her if necessary."

I groaned and said "Not more tests. Do we have to?"

"It's the only way to figure out how you're doing this," Vivian said. "Do you think you can stop doing whatever this is?"

"I-I don't know," I replied. "I'm not sure what I'm doing but I'll try."

I kinda just dropped my hands and the rain continued to fall. Everyone ran inside before they could get drenched.

'That was beyond weird,' I thought as I walked inside. I briefly stopped to look back at the falling rain before proceeding up to my room to change.

* * *

The floor of the Danger Room opened up to reveal a large, rectangular container of water.

"What's this for?" I yelled at the control room where the instructors were.

"Well if you were able to stop rain from falling you should be able to create a tidal wave," Vivian replied into the mic. "In the container you should find more than enough water needed to make one. Let's see how big of a wave you can generate."

"Okay," I replied.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Sensing the water beginning to slosh around, I put my hands out in front of me and started to raise the water high into the air. I kept it going higher and higher until I felt myself approaching my limit. I opened my eyes and gasped. The wave wasn't even thirty feet tall! How could this possibly be the best I could make? Determined to make it bigger despite the consequences, I struggled to make it higher.

"Semina, I can see that you're struggling," Professor X told me. "You can stop now."

"I can do this," I called out, ignoring his request. "This can't be the biggest wave I can make. I can make it bigger!"

"You're going to hurt yourself if you don't stop now," Vivian warned.

I began to get light headed and against better judgment still continued making the wave bigger. It wasn't until I started panting and sweating that I gave in to good reason and released the wave. I dropped to my knees and in a fit of frustration, I hit the floor of the Danger Room before storming out.

"I don't get it, Chuck," Logan grunted. "Why are her powers weaker than last night?"

"I'm not sure, Logan," the professor replied. "Semina's hydrokinesis seems to have substantially been weakened after regaining her powers. However, the question remains if they'll become stronger or simply disappear."

"Are you saying Semina could lose her hydrokinesis forever?" Ororo inquired.

"It's a possibility," Professor X sighed. "Hank, I'd like for you to check Semina's blood sample and see if you can dig up some answers. For the time being, I think it's best if we stop pushing Semina. She'll have to stop training for a while and I doubt she'll like that."

In Semina's Room

"You're telling me I can't train?" I angrily exclaimed. "But you saw what my powers can do! Why do I have to stop?"

"If you put too much of a strain on yourself, the results could be disastrous," Professor X explained. "I couldn't allow myself to idly stand by and let one of my students get hurt. We're trying to do what's best for you."

I groaned, then sighed realizing he was right. "Okay, fine. I understand. But when can I start training again?"

"When your powers have reached a certain level of power, I guarantee that you'll be training with the rest of the X-Men again," Professor X smiled.

He saw himself out and I laid back on my bed and sighed again. 'What's the point of having powers if I can't even use them?'

* * *

Professor X had finally managed to get me a new car to replace the old one. It was the same Chevy Camaro but this time the paint was black with blue waves and silver accents to match my X-Men suit. It was really a well thought out paint job and I was glad that Professor X had it made this way. I pulled my car into the local grocery store and parked. While everyone was training, Ororo sent me to the store to pick up some groceries for dinner to make sure I didn't feel _completely_ useless. I entered the grocery store and immediately felt stares.

'Can I go anywhere in this town without being stared at?' I irritatedly thought.

I decided to do my best to pick up everything quickly and get the hell out of this store before something bad could happen. After picking up some meat, vegetables, spices, cereal, juice and bags of pasta, I went into the candy aisle looking for something sweet to munch on. It turns out that when I was desperate for to eat sweets a couple months ago, it was because I was having pregnancy cravings. Yeah, it still hurts to think about the miscarriage but I couldn't just put it out of mind. I found the last pack and Pixie Sticks and I reached for it the same time the guy in front of me reached for it. Our hands touched and we both looked at each other in surprise.

"Semina, hey," Pietro awkwardly said.

"Hey yourself," I nervously replied as I felt my heart flutter a bit. "Still loving pixie sticks huh?"

"It's my addiction," Pietro replied as he flashed me that cute half smile that always made me melt.

"How could I forget?" I giggled. I looked down to see that our hands were still touching and we blushed before pulling away. "Sorry about that. Um, you can have them if you want. I could always find else."

"No, no, you can have it," Pietro offered as he tried to hand the pack to me.

"That's sweet but I know how much you love them," I said. "Take it. You know you want to."

"I do," Pietro grinned. "Thanks."

"No problem," I replied with a slight smile. An awkward silence cut through the air as I shifted my weight from one foot to the other uncomfortably. "So what brings you to the grocery store?"

"Picking up a couple things for the guys," Pietro replied. "You?"

"Out running errands," I sighed.

"I thought you'd be training since you got your powers back," Pietro said with a raised eyebrow. "What gives?"

"Long story," I replied. "Not worth your time."

"I have time to kill, why don't we talk over coffee or something?" Pietro asked.

"No," I plainly said. "We're not...you know...together. It'd be weird."

"Jeez, Mina, I meant as friends," Pietro said. "We _can_ be that, can't we?"

"I-I don't know," I said, honestly baffled at what he said. "Just friends, huh? Never thought of that."

"The offer stands if you feel like gracing me with your presence," Pietro smirked. He pointed to his head and said "You know how to reach me if you change your mind."

"I'll think about it," I told him. "It was nice seeing you."

"You too," Pietro replied.

We brushed past each other and walked in the opposite direction. I released a nervous breath I didn't know I was holding and got into the checkout line. As I loaded the items onto the conveyor belt, I couldn't help but notice the cashier giving me dirty looks. I returned the same look and after paying for the groceries, I angrily stormed out only to find that my car had been vandalized. On the side of my car, the word 'mutant freak' had been spray painted in white paint. I stared at it, gaping until I narrowed my eyes in anger and angrily huffed. Rather than losing my cool in front of the humans, I simply drove back to the mansion. I couldn't give them the satisfaction of me getting angry over something so trivial. Even if my car just got a new paint job.

At the mansion

My tires screeched to a halt as I pulled into the mansions rounded driveway. I got out of the car and slammed the door.

"Is this really what we have to deal with?" I snapped at Logan who exited the mansion after hearing my tires screech. "I can't even go to the grocery store without being subjected to hate by the humans."

Logan looked at the graffiti and growled. "No, kid. You shouldn't have to be treated like that."

"Why do the humans hate us anyway?" I asked. I drained some water from the grass and made a water cloth out of it to clean my car. I scrubbed at it and said "We haven't done anything wrong. We cant help being born with the X-gene."

"People are afraid of what they can't understand," Logan replied. "And I doubt the humans will ever fully understand mutants."

"That's really comforting," I sarcastically said. "So you're basically saying that we'll never get accepted by the humans, right?"

"That's not what I meant," Logan grunted. "I meant that it's gonna take some time for them to adjust. It could take years but they'll have to accept us sooner or later."

I inspected my car to make sure all of the spray paint was gone and sighed. "That day can't get here quick enough. Now while you're out here, mind helping me the groceries inside?"

* * *

Beast slid Semina's blood sample under the microscope an looked through the lens. A puzzled expression rested on his blue face as he compared her most recent blood sample to an older one.

"What did you find?" Professor X asked.

"Nothing and that's the problem," Beast said as he took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Both samples are exactly the same. Nothing out of the ordinary and there are no traces of the Trasks' serum in her blood so her powers should be back to full strength now."

"If there's no reason in her blood why her powers have weakened, then perhaps there could be a physical hindrance keeping her powers weak," Professor X suggested.

"It's a possibility," Beast said. "Semina's powers are directly connected to all forms of water. The ocean, lakes, rivers and so on. Call it an environmental connection. That connection was severed when she lost her powers. I think being away from the water for so long is the reason her hydrokinesis hasn't been as strong as usual."

"So we need to reexpose Semina to water to strengthen the connection to her powers," Professor X stated. "The quicker we do it, the better."

Later that night

All the girls of the mansion, including Tabby and Rogue who we forced to be here, sat in the living room having a girls movie day. We were eating popcorn, doing each others hair and nails and of course gossiping like there was no tomorrow.

"So I heard that a certain someone is crushing on Bobby," I snickered. Isn't that right, Amara?"

Amara cheeks turned pinkish red and said "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Ooh, looks she's blushing," Kitty giggled.

"I am not!" Amara retorted. "And what about Tabitha?"

"What about me?" Tabby inquired.

"You can't deny that you have the hots for Ray," Amara said in a sing song voice.

"Puh-lease," Tabby dismissed. "Me and Sparky? Are you kidding?"

"He did say you were cute and funny," LaToya said.

"He did! When?" Tabby excitedly asked.

"Busted," Jean laughed. "You can't hide that you like him."

"I'm not hiding anything," Tabby denied. "And speaking of hiding, what about you and Scooter?"

"You mean Scott?" Jean blushed. "What about us?"

"Did he finally ask you out yet?" Kitty asked. "We're all dying to know!"

"No, he hasn't," Jean said, slightly dejected.

I looked at Rogue who tried to contain a smug smile on her face. Personally, I don't think her and Scott would be good match. He doesn't seem like her type. Now Gambit on the other hand. He may be a villain but they totally like each other. Trust me, I know all about liking someone on the opposite team. And speaking of that person, I'm sensing that he wants to talk via our link. I excused myself from the living room and walked up to my room.

(Hey, so have you thought about it?) Pietro asked.

(About what?) I asked, feigning ignorance.

(You know what I'm talking about,) Pietro replied. (Coffee with me? As friends?)

(Oh, that!) I exclaimed. (Yeah, I thought about it. I thought a lot about it actually.)

(So,) Pietro said, awaiting my answer.

(I'm not entirely sure that it's the best thing right after we _just_ broke up,) I replied. (But I see no harm in it. How about we meet at the coffee place in the mall at around three?)

(I'll see you there,) Pietro happily said. (I'm glad you agreed.)

(Yeah, yeah, just don't get all mushy on me,) I told him with a smile on my face. (I have to go now. It's girls night at the mansion and we're in the middle of talking about guys.)

(Are you guys talking about me?) he questioned.

I laughed before breaking off the connection. "I think I'll let him worry a bit."

I returned downstairs and every girl was looking at me with smiles on their faces.

"What's with the creepy smiles?" I asked. "It's weirding me out."

"You were gone awfully long," Rogue observed.

"I was talking to someone," I vaguely explained.

"So what did he say?" Kitty asked her eyes craving information.

"Who said it was a he?" I retorted.

"Wild guess," Jean replied, holding back a knowing grin.

"So what did Pietro want?" LaToya bluntly asked.

I blushed and said "I wasn't talking to Pietro."

"So you're mind is linked to another guys then, huh?" Tabby asked.

"How'd you figure it out?" I asked as I sat down in our girl circle.

"Your face kinda zones out when you get a telepathic message," Jean said. "Happens to every telepath."

"So what did he say?" Amara eagerly asked.

"He asked me out for coffee," I said. " As friends of course."

"Are you gonna go?" Rogue asked. "You can't trust the guy."

"Who said I did?" I replied. "I don't trust him, I'm not gonna forgive what he did and I'm not taking him back. It's just two friends, who just happen to be ex's, going out for coffee. I see no harm in it especially if he's buying."

"Why would you want to be friends?" LaToya asked. "If you ask me, I think it'll be worse than when you guys were together."

"Why is that?" I asked.

"There are things that make it weird," Amara explained. "Like remembering how he used to kiss you."

"The happy memories that never go away," Kitty said.

"The blushing," Tabby pointed out.

"Awkward conversations," Amara added.

"Other couples that make you guys want to get back together," Rogue said.

"And worst all all," Jean began. "You never forget the way he used he used to look at you when you two lock eyes."

"None of that matters," I dismissed. "I said I wasn't going to forgive him take him back and I mean it. But I can't have us end up like Magneto and my aunt. No way."

"So you're going?" Rogue asked.

"Mmm hmm," I nodded. Inside I was actually nervous but only a little.

* * *

Apparently, in order to make my powers stronger, I have to reconnect myself with water. So here I was in the pool, just swimming around.

"Funnest training session ever," I said as I came up for air.

"This is serious, Semina," Vivian said as she sat poolside in her bathing suit. "This is training not fun time."

"Same difference," I smiled. "What do you want me to do?"

"First we'll test if you can make water tentacles," Vivian said. "Then make the fists into mallets then maces then buzzsaws."

I coated my arms in water and made the tentacles pretty easily. I morphed the ends into the mallet first, being the most simple. Then changed it shape into the mace. The maces took time but I had to focus all of my concentration on making those buzzsaws. This is much harder than I remember.

"Lets' see if you can make a geyser or pillar now," Vivian suggested.

I nodded my head and laid my hands on the surface of the water. I ducked them underneath for a second and brought them back up causing water to shoot up high into the air.

"How's this?" I asked.

Vivian raised her eyebrow and smirked. "Nice work. Now try a pillar."

I obeyed and dove underwater. Holding my breath, I focused on the water around me and shot into the air on a tall water pillar. I stood on the very top of the pillar feeling triumphant.

"Good! Now come down and we'll try something different," Vivian shouted up.

I turned the pillar back into water but then felt a sharp pain in my head and found myself falling straight into the pool from at least twenty feet above. I splashed into the pool and slowly sank toward the bottom, still clutching my head. It feels like another telepath was trying enter Pietro's mind which was causing me pain because I was the one who set up the strong mental wall in his head. That telepath was none of than Mastermind, one of Magneto's new lackeys. Through our link, I sent a psionic blast at him sending him away for the moment. I was still underwater when a water bubble formed around me and brought me toward the surface. Aunt Viv pulled me out of the pool and I coughed up a little bit of water.

"What happened?" Vivian asked.

"Mastermind was trying to get into Pietro's head," I panted.

"Causing psychic pain to you seeing as how you're the one who set up the link," Vivian finished.

"Exactly but I didn't make that bubble that got me out of the pool," I admitted. "I think my powers did that on their own."

"That wouldn't be the first time," Vivian said.

"What do you mean?" I questioned. "I don't remember my powers ever saving me before."

"You don't remember much from that day, do you?" Vivian said, a distant look in her brown eyes.

_Three and a half years ago_

_The sun shone down brightly and the smell of crisp, clean water was thick in the air. A day at the lake was exactly what the Wilson family needed. Estelle and Dwight sat on their lakeside lounge chair sharing a tray of assorted fruit and sipping strawberry margaritas while their children frolicked in the lake. Vivian sauntered over to her sister and her brother-in-law while steadily monitoring her nieces and nephew with her telepathy. _

"_Hey, Estelle," Vivian greeted as she gave her a peck on the cheek. "How are Semina's powers progressing?"_

"_See for yourself," Estelle said as she gestured toward her daughter who was demonstrating her powers to her brother and sister._

"_Look what I can do!" came the excited shout from a thirteen year old Semina. She made spheres of water and used her powers to make them surround her body. And just to show off, she began to juggle them._

_LaToya, who was always as easily amused as a baby despite being fourteen, giggled and looked on in awe. "That's so amazing! I wish I could have cool mutant powers too."_

_Anthony, acting like an overly mature fifteen year old, snorted in annoyance and said "They're not so great. I bet she can't even make a wave with her stupid powers."_

"_I can too!" Semina retorted. "Just you wait and see!"_

_Semina looked at the clear lake water with determination and took a deep breath. She slowly began to raise her hands up and as she raised her hands, the water in the lake raised with them. The wave formed slowly, it began at five feet then rose to ten feet, fifteen feet, twenty feet and it kept raising until it stood above the lake as tall as building!_

"_Whoa! That wave is huge!" LaToya exclaimed._

_They all watched as the wave continued to grow in size._

"_Okay, Semina you can stop now," Anthony said, urgency lining his voice._

_A sheepish and panicked look and she quietly said "I would if I knew how."_

"_You don't know how to get rid of that thing?" Anthony yelled._

"_Yeah, you guys should probably get out of the water," I said. "Like now. I'll try to handle this. Oh and get Aunt Viv if I can't."_

_They quickly swam out of the lake and went into the small lake house their parents and aunt entered some five minutes ago. They explained the situation to Vivian who smacked her forehead and sighed before quickly rushing to the lakeside. She gaped at the wave in the water in disbelief. Vivian thought her niece and nephew were exaggerating but they clearly weren't. _

"_Semina! What did you do?" Vivian shouted to her._

"_I made a wave!" Semina called back, a little too literally. "I don't know how to get rid of it!"_

"_Just concentrate on making it smaller and slowly lower your hands!" Vivian instructed. _

_Semina only half listened to her aunts instructions. She concentrated on making it smaller but she brought her hands down too quickly and the wave crashed down right on top of her. _

"_Semina!" Vivian cried out in horror. She watched in terror as her niece was thrown under the lake water and as the wave cleared and the water became calm, she was nowhere on the surface. "Estelle! Dwight! Come quick!"_

_The Wilson family rushed toward Vivian who sputtered the horrific details to them. _

"_I'm going in after her," Vivian said as she dashed toward the lake and jumped in, clothes and all. _

_Before she could even swim toward the middle of the lake where Semina was, a strange bubbling was __coming from the spot where Semina got hit with the wave. The bubbling intensified and seconds later water burst from that very spot and as if by some stroke of luck or unexplained miracle, Semina's body rose to the surface completely covered in a cocoon of protective water. She was unconscious from swallowing too much water but she was very much alive._

"Wait a second!" I said waving my hands in furious disbelief. "There is no way I, _a hydrokinetic_, almost drowned."

"Well, you did," Vivian quipped with a slight snap of irritation. "Mutant powers tend to be protective of their hosts. God forbid if you didn't have your powers, you probably would've drowned before I could've reached you. I think this has been enough training for one afternoon. You're dismissed."

My eyebrows furrowed in deep thought before I climbed out of the pool and dried myself off with a towel. Almost drowning couldn't dwell on my mind for long because it was almost time to meet Pietro for coffee.

At the coffee shop

I arrived at the coffee shop and sat at a table for two in the very back. I didn't want to be harassed while I waited for Pietro to show up. I looked down at my outfit and wondered in a pair of khaki shorts, a baggy button down dress shirt with a black tank top underneath and black ankle boots were too casual. Maybe I shouldn't have tied my hair in a bun either. It makes this coffee date as friends seem like a "date-date" instead. I quickly untied my hair and let it fall around my shoulders before nervously glancing at the clock mounted on the wall. He asked me to be here at three and it was almost three now.

'No big deal,' I reassured. 'He's probably going to make a grand entrance.'

Four hours later

I continued staring at the clock like how I've been doing since I got here and willed myself to not cry.

"Excuse me, miss," the janitor said. "The coffee shop is closed. You need to go home now."

I nodded my head and quickly gathered my things before dashing out of the coffee shop and to my car.

At the mansion

The door flew open and everyone watched as Semina stormed in with tears in her eyes and a furious look on her face.

"Semina, what happened?" Jean asked, in concern.

I furiously wiped my tears away and said "Four hours. I waited four hours and that arrogant, egotistical, womanizing jackass stood me up." My voice cracked a little at the end and a lump formed in my throat. I knew I was on the verge of breaking down again and I couldn't handle an audience watching me.

Then as if being summoned by some internal force, I brushed past them and removed my shoes and button down shirt before proceeding outside. The night air was brisk as it hit my body. As I walked closer and closer to my destination, I felt the call becoming stronger, more urgent. I found myself at my destination: the dangerous and unstable cliff edge. I looked down at the ocean water that violently lurched and thrashed around and knew that this is where I could answer the call within me. Without even a second thought, I let my body fall weightlessly over the edge into the water below.

"Oh my God!" LaToya shouted as her eyes bulged out of her head. "Semina just fell off the edge of the cliff!"

The patrons of the mansion scrambled outside in a panic just in time to see Semina's body splash into the ocean below. Logan pushed toward the front of the crowd and attempted to jump in after her but couldn't do so.

"S-she's blocking me," Logan gruffly said. "She's stopping me from jumping in after her."

Silence enveloped the air save the sound of someone sniffling as everybody stood helpless and frozen in horror. Semina still hasn't come up and no one could survive the treacherous waters below.

"Why would she do that?" Kitty asked, on the verge of tears. "She just jumped off."

"I can't believe she committed suicide," Bobby said in a daze. "Of all people I never thought she'd do that."

"And by trying to drown," Scott added. "Painful and unfunny irony given her powers."

Vivian stared down at the water a grimace on her face as she relived when she saw Semina almost drown for the first time. A gasp escaped her mouth before she addressed the mutants by saying "I know what's she's doing. She's not trying to commit suicide. She's reconnecting the bridge between water and her powers."

"By jumping off a cliff?" Anthony questioned.

"Look!" Kurt exclaimed as he saw a whirlpool forming in the middle of the ocean. "Something creepy is going on down zhere!"

The whirlpool expanded, swirling the salty ocean water in it before it shot into the air. Cries of relief were heard as they saw Semina, completely dry, and atop the newly formed water cyclone. They watched in awe as she put her hands in front of her and cause the sea to part by dividing it in two. Semina then released her hold on the water and slowly brought her hands high above her head. The ocean, obeying the grip of her power over it, formed a wave that grew higher and higher. She kept it growing until it was big enough to wipe out the entire mansion with just the stroke of her hand. Semina then brought the wave over to her and stood upon it, a grin on her face and an air of immense power to her. Commanding the wave forward, she brought it next to the cliff where she stepped onto before returning the sea to a clam and gentle nature rather than the harsh one before.

"Semina, are you alright?" Vivian asked as she and the other mutants surrounded her.

I smiled and said "Actually, I feel better than I've felt in months. There's this feeling I can't quite explain but it feels...incredible. Like a part of me that was missing just returned."

"It seems you've managed to restore your connection to the water," Professor X said, as he knit his fingers together to rest his chin on top of them. "A little strangely I might add."

"Strange aint the word for it, Chuck," Logan growled, a vein was pulsating in his neck as he spoke so I knew he was really upset. "It was stupid, reckless and dangerous! What the hell were you thinking?"

I winced slightly at the anger in Logan's voice. "Look, I'm sorry for making you guys worry," I apologized. "But I knew my powers wouldn't have let me drown. Yes, it pretty dumb to just toss myself over a cliff but I was drawn to the ocean somehow. I couldn't help myself."

"That pull you were feeling is the connection you have with the water," Beast said. "Apparently it sensed your powers were weakening and willed you to strengthen them through reforming your connection."

"But did you really have to be so dramatic about it?" Vivian asked. "You scared us half to death!"

"Sorry...again. I promise this won't happen again," I assured. "You guys can go inside now. Everything's fine. No one's dead or hurt. And for the last time Bobby, I wasn't trying to commit suicide so stop thinking that!"

"Hey! Don't go in my head!" Bobby said.

"She didn't have to," Vivian said. "You're practically shouting it."

"She's quite right, Bobby," Professor X concurred as Jean nodded her head in mutual agreement.

Bobby sheepishly turned red before deciding to head back inside to evade further embarrassment. Everyone followed him back inside after making sure I was okay for the thousandth time Logan, however, stayed behind with a disapproving look on his face.

"Don't you ever pull a stunt like that _ever_ again, sprinkler!" Logan barked. "I mean it."

"I won't. I didn't know you'd-" Before I could continue, what Logan did next surprised me. He pulled me close to him and wrapped his arms around me protectively.

"You scared the living hell out of me, kid," Logan whispered in a barely audible voice.

I returned the unexpected hug and simply whispered "I'm sorry, dad."

A week later

A week has passed since my little free fall over the cliff and Beast has been running test after test to determine the extent of my newly enhanced powers. He says that it's an ironic side effect to the serum I was injected with. The irony being instead of ridding make of my powers completely, it's managed to make them stronger. The same thing happened to Aunt Viv too. Her telepathy has enabled her to take full possession of someones mind meaning she can take over their body and powers as well, expand her telepathic range to 200 miles and she can cause illusions centered in the mind. My own telepathy hasn't enhanced by much. All I can do now that's new is learn an entirely new language just by retrieving it from the part of the brain that enables speaking _and_ I can teach it to others too. I tested it on Kurt and we can speak to each other in German without anyone knowing what we're saying. Beast says these enhancements can be permanent or temporary but he needs to study the serum much more thoroughly. For the time being however I plan to enjoy how much stronger my hydrokinesis has gotten. It's about time something good happened to me given everything that's happened. Speaking of that, Pietro has been trying to get in touch with me since he stood me up but I've been blocking him every chance I get. If he thought I was mad at him before he has no idea how much more angry I am at him now. Looks like we can't be lovers or friends.

A/N: Yeah, don't worry about that last part. I have plans for those two. I'm trying to hop into this sequel as quickly as I can before school starts back up so I'm skipping to "Dark Horizons" in the next chapter. I will do a quick recap of events leading up to it though. See you in the next chappie! And don't forget to review this one!


	32. Ancient Egyptian Evil

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Keep 'em coming guys! I forgot to mention in the last chapter that Vivian is now permanently living at the mansion and she's come out of retirement from being an X-Man so she'll be going on missions with the team. Here's the new chappie. ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution or any song used in this story, so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

Ancient Egyptian Evil

A lot of stuff has happened over the past few weeks. Evan's powers went crazy and now he's left the mansion and is now living in the sewers with this mutant group called the Morlocks. I'll admit, I'm actually happy he's gone. There was an open spot on the team but it went to Bobby instead of LaToya. She's only mad because she can't be closer to Kurt though. Wanda has joined the Brotherhood and has forgotten all anger toward Magneto. I'm pretty sure Mastermind has something to do with this but I'm not certain. As for myself, I was back in the med bay again. It was only for a brief while though my injuries weren't _that_ bad. You see, I still haven't gotten the hang of my enhanced powers yet so when Rogue's absorbed psyches fought for dominance, I kinda...overdid it, for lack of a better phrase.

_During the battle with Rogue_

_Rogue shapeshifted into Tsunami and began to gather all the water in air._

"_Ooh, do I really look that great?" I asked aloud with a slight smile on my face._

"_Focus on Rogue, Tsunami," Cyclops said. _

_Rogue sent shards of frozen water toward everyone which I stopped with my own powers. I returned them into their previous watery state but widened my eyes as Rogue made a massive tidal wave and flung it at us with no effort at all._

"_Out of the way!" I yelled to everyone else. The wave came barreling toward me but I put my hands out and stopped it. However, I unintentionally turned the wave back at Rogue who surrounded herself in telekinetic bubble causing the wave to not harm her but destroy every building in it's path. I stopped it before it could do any more damage and turned it into harmless fog. Using that fog however, Rogue shifted in Juggernaut and punched me through a glass storefront and through two walls. _

I was only there in the med bay a couple days but even when I was released, Professor X wouldn't let me come with him and the team to London for some big important mission with another mutant named Angel. I actually met him and he flirted with me a little.

_I passed the main computer room while I was coming from the med bay and accidentally bumped into someone._

"_Sorry," I apologized before I looked up at who I bumped into._

"_No, it was my fault," the guy replied as he blushed and his wings fluttered slightly._

"_Whoa! Are those wings?" I asked with wide eyes._

_His wings rustled around and he said "Yes they are."_

"_They absolutely beautiful," I gushed. "Not to mention super cool."_

_A crimson tint crept on his cheeks as he said "Thank you. No one has ever said that to me before."_

"_I don't see why," I shrugged. "I think it's an awesome mutation to have."_

"_You don't say," he said as he raised his eyebrow. "I appreciate your compliment-, uh, I'm sorry. I don't think I caught your name."_

"_Silly me, where are my manners?" I giggled. I stuck out my hand for a handshake and said "I'm Semina Wilson. Mina for short. And you are?"_

"_Warren. Warren Worthington III," Warren smiled as he took my hand and slightly kissed it. "Charmed to meet you."_

_I blushed and giggled. "Okay, Warren. It looks like you know how to make a girl feel special. I bet you didn't introduce yourself to every girl like this."_

"_Only to a lovely lady," Warren said, with a slight grin. "And I was privileged enough to meet a girl as lovely as yourself."_

_I giggled some more before he asked me what my powers were. "Well, they call me Tsunami so get me around water and you can see for yourself, Angel."_

"_How did you know my codename?" Warren questioned._

_(One of my many talents, Warren,) I telepathically told him. _

"_Telepathic as well," Warren admired. "Impressive."_

"_I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Scott said as he walked out of the computer room with Jean. He looked down at Warren who still held my hand and raised an eyebrow through his shades._

"_No, not all," I said, slowly taking my hand away from Warrens and beginning to walk to my room. "It was nice meeting you, Warren."_

"_And you as well, Semina," he called as I headed up the stairs._

Warren's a nice guy, sweet and kinda cute but I had no time to focus on guys especially after what the professor told us after he and the team returned from London. Mesmero, the same guy who took control of Jeans mind last year, went to London looking for a key that could unlock a mutant who was said to be more powerful than any other mutant on earth. The mutant's name was Apocalypse. Magneto and his Acolytes were there and somehow Magneto ended up destroying the key. Unfortunately, the key was actually a guardian that could've stopped Apocalypse from being released but now that it's gone, the second door out of a set of three has opened, leaving only one door left to be opened. If this door gets opened and Apocalypse is set free the entire world is gonna be, to pretty much summarize what Professor X said, in deep shit.

* * *

I groggily woke up this morning with the most horrible migraine. I had some twisted nightmare that I was being attacked but it was fuzzy and for some reason I couldn't seem to remember it. I glanced at the clock and let out a shriek. School was gonna start in thirty minutes. I threw off the covers and made a beeline toward my bathroom where I took what could be the quickest shower of my life before hurrying to get dressed. I threw on a long orange sundress and a pair of sandals before dashing downstairs to secure some breakfast. When I arrived there, there was total chaos in the kitchen. Mutants everywhere, scrambling for breakfast, making messes and trying their best to not be late for our last day of school. Rather than get caught up in the sea of mutants, I decided to follow Rogue's approach and skip breakfast.

"I'm leaving now if anyone wants a ride!" I called into the kitchen. Rogue, Kurt and LaToya followed me out to my car where we finally made our way to Bayville high.

"Our last day as juniors!" I exclaimed as we came to a stop light. "By this time next year, it's gonna be us that's graduating."

"Man, Scott Jean and Anthony sure are lucky," Kurt pointed out. "After zhis, zhe von't have to deal with high school anymore."

"No more cheerleaders wanting your destruction," I said.

"No more standardized state tests," LaToya added.

"And no more school lunches!" LaToya, Kurt and I exclaimed at once.

"What's up with you, Rogue?" I asked. "You've been more quiet than usual."

"I just haven't been feeling well," Rogue replied as she rubbed her temples.

"Sorry to hear that," I said. "Want me to take a quick look in your head?"

"No," came her snarly reply. Rogue's been more and more reclusive not to mention more irritated, especially at me for reasons unknown. When we were in the med bay together she would hardly look at me when I tried talking to her.

"Okay then. Whatever you say," I said as we pulled into school as mad a mad sprint toward our classes before the final bell.

In English Class

As I sat in class not being able fully focus on Ms. Reynolds last day of school speech, I suddenly felt Pietro's presence in my mind.

(Pietro, I thought I told you to-) I angrily began before he cut me off.

(I-know! It's-just-that-something-weird is-going-on with-Rog-) was what Pietro said before our connection cut off and I felt a painful jolt run through my mind. I suddenly forgot what just happened I the last fifty seconds and I couldn't figure out why.

* * *

"Aww, look at you," I said with a soft smile as I watched Anthony get out of his car with his red cap and gown on. A breeze passed by blowing my hair with it. I chose to wear my hair down for this special occasion and wore a zebra printed pencil skirt with a long sleeved satin white shirt that ruffled at the cuffs.

"We're so proud that you made it to graduation," LaToya sincerely said. Her pinstriped black and gray pants suit was just as fitting as my outfit for a graduation.

"I am too," Anthony said as we walked toward the football field where the graduation was being held. Graduates and parents were strewn around the field all enjoying this momentous day. "I made it through four years of torture and managed to take all the mutant hate with the last couple months."

"That doesn't matter," LaToya dismissed. "You're graduating! Principal Kelly can take his anti-mutant ways and shove it up his-"

"Language, young lady," a voice boomed from behind us. We turned around to see our parents behind us with our aunt.

"Sorry, dad," LaToya sheepishly said as they hugged.

"Hello, Semina," my dad greeted as she hugged me too.

"Hi," I uneasily said as I awkwardly hugged him back. This is probably the first time my dad has hugged me in years.

"You look so pretty, Semina," my mom said as she hugged me and pecked me on the cheek.

"So do you?" I questioned in confusion rather than answered.

Our parents turned their attention to Anthony and I looked at my aunt who had devious grin on her face.

(What did you do?) I asked. (It's like they've forgotten what Sierra did to them in my body!)

(I made it so that they could be civil toward you,) Vivian projected. (But just for today.)

(Thank you!) I exclaimed. (You're the best.)

"Mom, dad, the ceremony is gonna start soon," I said, looping my arms in theirs and enjoying their cheerfulness toward me. "Let's get to our seats."

"Good idea," my mom smiled.

We took our seats and as the ceremony began, Principal Kelly went into some bullshit speech about mutants having the upper hand and how humans shouldn't be afraid of us. Halfway through the beginning of it, I excused myself from my spot on the bleachers and walked behind it to find him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I hissed at Pietro, who leaned casually against the bleachers. "This is a private ceremony and you're not even a student here."

"Whoa there," Pietro said throwing his hands up in mock surrender. "Why I'm here isn't any of your concern."

"Oh really?" I asked. I pointed to my head and said "It kinda is. So talk."

"I'm not gonna say much but I think they'll have to reschedule this graduation," Pietro said as he constantly snuck glances at Rogue.

I made a gesture for him to continue and he simply pointed down the field where I saw Magneto floating toward the ceremony.

"Why is he here?" I demanded.

"You'll know soon enough," Pietro said before he sped off without another word.

As Magneto, his Acolytes and the Brotherhood strolled into the field, the humans fled in terror. Pietro cornered Rogue to stop her from leaving. Rogue didn't even try to move him instead she kinda stood there with this distant look in her eye until Magneto entrapped her in a circle of metal chairs. Magneto claimed that Rogue was under Mesmero's control and that she attacked his team to absorb their powers. I didn't believe him until Rogue proved him right but flinging the chairs at us and flying into the distance. I made a wall of ice out of water from the field to keep any chairs from hitting me. As Logan, Gambit and Sabertooth went to track Rogue down, the rest of us headed to the mansion to devise a plan. And by the rest of us, I mean the X-Men, the Brotherhood and the Acolytes.

At the mansion

Beast, Professor X and Magneto went to dig up more information on Apocalypse, the three teams sat in the planning room. Tension was thick enough to be cut with a knife. The only sound was the very annoying one of a certain orange haired Aussie flicking his lighter on and off.

"Could you stop that?" I snapped, finally getting fed up.

It's not the flame that's bothering me, it's just the noise. Months of pyrophobia counseling with the professor has ebbed my fear of tiny fires like from a lighter and as big as a small campfire but I could still break down if the flames get to be to overwhelming. That annoying noise was bothering me even more because I was already testy and irritated from being in the same room as Pietro. The jerk never even apologized for standing me up.

"No can do, girlie," Pyro replied. "It 'elps calm me down."

"Calm won't be the only thing that's going down," I warned as I slit my eyes at him.

Pyro obviously taken aback by my threat, raised an eyebrow and said "Seems to me the little sheila is a bit irritated."

"Irritated isn't the word for it," I growled.

"Is this because yer old mate, Pietro is 'ere?" Pyro asked with a mocking grin.

My eyes widened before narrowing them in anger. "This isn't about him. It's about you and that damn lighter!"

"Sure it is," Pyro said, not believing me. "Miss the way you two used to snog*, don't ya? The little larrikin* wouldn't stop bragging about the way you two knocked boots."

I went pale and flushed with embarrassment as my mouth hung open and my eye twitched slightly. "He did, did he? Excuse me for a moment."

I proceeded out of the room and walked outside. Everyone looked at me through the window as I let out a loud roar of anger causing the waves of the ocean to spurt up matching my rage. A few moments later, I returned still fuming but gluing a neutral look on my face.

Pietro looked like he wanted to say something but I held up my hand and warned "Don't say anything or I will rip every drop of water from your body out through your eyes."

Pyro snickered in amusement and Pietro slowly backed away from me. A ring at the doorbell sounded and Ororo rushed to answer it. A few minutes later, she returned with a bouquet of beautiful red roses.

"Those are so pretty," Kitty remarked. "But who would send flowers at a time like this? Who are they for anyway?"

"They are for Semina," Ororo said as she passed them to me. "There is a card attached to them as well."

I took the flowers in surprise and felt the anger melt away. I read the card aloud "If Apocalypse is released and manages to destroy the world, I would regret not getting the chance to ask you this. It would be my privilege to be able to spend one evening in the company of a beautiful young lady like you, Semina. Call me if you're interested. Signed, Warren Worthington III."

"Angel?" Jean questioned. "He asked you out?"

"Apparently so," I blushed. "Even with the rising threat of Apocalypse, he still asked me out. Bold guy, I like that."

"Are you gonna go?" Kitty asked.

"Let's see, he's handsome, a mutant, well dressed, charming, sweet, not to mention rich," I pointed out. "I don't see why I wouldn't say yes."

"I can give you a couple reasons to say no," Pietro muttered.

I cupped my hand to my ear and said "What was that, Pietro? Was that 'I stood you up for coffee and I have no say in this?' Oh, okay. That's what I thought you said."

"Ooh, a lovers quarrel," Pyro said rubbing his hands together. "This is gonna be a beaut."

Professor X , Beast and Magneto couldn't have chosen a better time to come back because I was literally a few seconds from mauling Pietro and Pyro.

"What new information did you find out about Apocalypse?" Scott asked.

"We've managed to find what we think is his tomb," Beast said. "It's located in Egypt, Giza to be specific. Charles has found the exact location and we'll be mobilizing there shortly."

"This is a very crucial and dangerous mission that requires our most experienced members," Professor X said. "Storm, Beast, Vivian, Scott, Jean, Semina, Kurt, Anthony, Kitty, LaToya and Bobby will be brought along to Egypt with us."

"The same goes for Quicksilver, Pyro and Colossus," Magneto said. "The rest of the Brotherhood will be staying behind."

"And given the circumstances of the situation, X-Men, we'll be forming a temporary alliance with Magneto until we can neutralize the threat," Professor X explained.

"What!" we all exclaimed.

"All personal feelings of objection aside," Professor X began, halting the cries of protest. "Time is running out and we need to put away petty disagreements. I expect you all to cooperate with each other for this mission, understood?"

We nodded our heads and Professor X said "Now, I'll need to place mental blocks within each of your heads to ensure Mesmero isn't able to manipulate anyone else."

He set up barriers in everyone's heads except mine, my aunts and Pietro's. We could do our own and Pietro didn't need one.

"Charles, you've skipped over Pietro," Magneto noticed. Pietro kept a cool exterior but in his head he was screaming curses like there was no tomorrow. I guess he never told Magneto about our link. Go figure.

"Should I say it or are you too afraid of your father to tell him the truth?" I questioned with a challenging look.

Pietro remained silent and looked away from my gaze.

"Tell me what?" Magneto demanded.

"Pietro doesn't need a mental block because he already has one set up," I explained with a smug look. "Me and your son are telepathically bonded."

Magneto glared angrily at Pietro who couldn't bring himself to look at his father before saying "So be it. Let's be off then."

But everyone in this room knew Magneto wouldn't just shrug this off so easily. But even he knew this was no time to pick a fight with me. Apocalypse was far more important.

* * *

We arrived in Egypt and landed the XM-Velocity in front of the Sphinx. After Shadowcat dove underneath the sand and opened up the passageway to the underground room, we proceeded down the stairs and into an eerie, dark Egyptian chamber. I was right behind Cyclops when the statues in the chamber sprung to life and the doorway closed behind us sealing us underneath the Sphinx.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" I asked as the statues stepped off of their platforms and began to walk toward us.

One of them swung their sword at Cyclops and I tackled him out of the way. The floor began to shake and rumble and that's when we all got split up. Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, Siren and Colossus fell through the collapsing floor landing God knows where. Rocks fell from the ceiling blocking off Storm, Iceman Jean and Stone also trapping me with Cyclops, Pyro and Quicksilver and soon after the floor began to descend and we were taken into a separate room. Professor X, Beast, Medulla and Magneto were all sealed behind a door that led them into a room filled with hieroglyphics. I coughed as the dust cleared and Pyro lit the torches in the chamber. In front of us stood two giant statues that stood still for the moment. Cyclops warned us to not make any sudden movements.

"Oh this is just great," I sarcastically said as I dusted myself off and slowly rose to my feet. "Stuck in a room with my ex-boyfriend and a crazy Aussie arsonist. Two people I despise."

"Calm down, will ya, girlie," Pyro responded. "I don't like it either."

"Yeah, well first thing's first," Cyclops said. "We need to find a way outta here."

"You-got-it!" Quicksilver said as he sped away, awakening the once stationary statues.

"Jackass," I muttered as the statues walked toward us.

Cyclops and Pyro each fired at one of them but it simply shrugged off the attack and swung it's hatchet down on us. We jumped out of the way and out of its range. I gathered what little water that was in the dry air and was about to cut it in half when one of Cyclops' optic blast tore the arm off.

"They're mechanical!" Cyclops exclaimed.

Pyro who was constantly spitting flames at the other statue was knocked to the floor when the statue's sword connected with his torso. While he was down, I sent the water I was controlling at the statue and it sliced it into four horizontal pieces.

"How did you do that?" Cyclops asked as he shot more optic blasts at the other statue.

"Razor thin blades of water that cut through them," I replied as I jumped out of the way of the statues' sword.

"Well do it again on the other one," Cyclops yelled.

"I can't," I replied as just as Quicksilver returned. "There's no more water in the air. I used it all up already."

"Well I found a tunnel, so let's finish these things and get going," Quicksilver said before running circles around the statue with the sword sending it flying toward the wall. Just then another statue came flying in from the other room that had Storm, Jean, Iceman and Stone in it and crashing into the statue in our room.

"Anthony," I exclaimed as I hugged my brother tightly in his rock form. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I got along fine," he shrugged. "But the professor said we should head toward up to him."

Quicksilver then led us toward the tunnel he told us about earlier and we came to a long arched hallway that led us straight into a dead end.

"Great going," I snapped. "You led us to a dead end!"

"Spare me your complaining," Quicksilver snapped back. "At least I found the tunnel, didn't I?"

"Yeah, a tunnel that led us to nowhere!" I shouted.

"Calm down, little sis," Stone soothed. "I got it covered."

Stone walked toward the wall and place his hands on it. He felt the texture of it before backing up and thrusting both of his hands up. The wall lifted up and revealed another chamber that held Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, Siren and Colossus.

"There you guys are," Shadowcat said in relief. Not even two seconds later, the wall next to us crumbled and two more statues came barreling in. We took off in the opposite direction until we came to a large staircase. Unfortunately, each step was big and had to be climbed.

"Giant mechanical statues, never ending Egyptian hallways," I groaned as I climbed up each step. "What could be worse than this? Oh yeah, being stuck with someone you hate."

"So now you hate me?" Quicksilver snorted.

"Yeah, I do," I growled. "What you did before was bad enough but then you had me wait for four hours to a coffee date you never showed up to."

"Something...important came up," Quicksilver answered.

"You could have kept Magneto waiting," I replied climbing up yet another step. "You could've met with him some other time."

"He's my father, Semina," Quicksilver said. "I couldn't say no to him."

"How could I forget?" I retorted angrily. "Magneto always comes first. He's more important than _anyone_ else in your life."

Everyone exchanged looks with each other wondering how Pietro and Semina could blindly argue about their relationship problems in the middle of an important mission.

"Why are you getting upset?" Quicksilver asked getting irritated. "Last time I checked you're the one who broke up with me. What I do isn't your business anymore. And if you hate me so much, why don't you just stay out of my life and I'll stay out of yours."

"I would if I could," I said with an irritated tone. "But I'm unfortunately bonded to some self centered asshole who puts himself before everyone else."

"You know what, Semina?" Quicksilver began finally reaching his limit. "All you do is complain about how much of a bad person I am when you don't ever once stop to see that you're no perfect person either. You are bossy, hotheaded, a drama queen, an attention whore and pretty damn full of yourself. I see now that you're definitely not worth the trouble I went through to go out with you and you're just another typical bitchy teenage girl that everyone forces themselves to put up with!"

His words cut like a knife and I felt my whole world shatter to pieces. My skin crawled with both anger and hurt turning my face a bright stop sign red and my breathing became shallow and cracked like I was gasping for air. I felt like I was either going to attack him or burst into tears but both would be an appropriate reaction to this. Before anyone could even say or do anything, the two statues from earlier burst in through the wall behind us. Distracted by emotions I couldn't quite place, one of the statues came up behind me and whacked me into the wall with their sword. I slumped down the wall but Jean stopped me from falling any further.

"She's out cold," Jean observed. "It doesn't look like she's waking up any time soon. She hit her head pretty hard."

"I'll take her," Nightcrawler offered with a look of concern. Quicksilver who claimed he couldn't care less what happens in Semina's life anymore couldn't help but look a little annoyed that Nightcrawler was holding Mina and underneath that annoyance lay slight worry.

The group of mutants ran toward a door that was covered in hieroglyphics and Cyclops blasted it open. Inside was a strange vessel shaped similar to a pyramid. Professor X had figured out how to operate it so everyone else ran toward it while Storm, Iceman and Pyro held off the statue who broke in through the wall. Nighctrawler teleported to the vessel and lay Tsunami on his lap.

"Ah, my head," I grumbled as I weakly opened my eyes. I looked around to find myself in a place I couldn't explain. "Where am I?"

"You're in the Eye of Ages," Beast replied. "The professor and I will explain later but right now we're heading to Tibet. That's where Apocalypses' tomb is."

Cyclops jumped into the Eye of Ages last and in a sudden burst of light, we arrived in a Tibetan cave. We all piled out of the Egyptian vessel and stood in complete fear and shock as a glowing white figure floated out of a door.

"Apocalypse," I whispered in utter terror. "W-we're too late."

Everyone took offensive stances ready to attack the ancient mutant. Apocalypse simply raised his hands and clapped. That clap was a burst of energy none of us has ever seen before. It was powerful enough for everyone in the room to be thrown back by its force. I fell to the ground and rolled twice before landing on my stomach. Apocalypse began to enter the Eye of Ages but Magneto tried to stop him. Apocalypse looked back at him and closed his fist sending Magneto flying back. How could any mutant be that powerful? It's incredible and terrifying at the same time. Apocalypse boarded his vessel and disappeared from the cave.

"After centuries of dormancy, Apocalypse has been set free," Medulla breathed in disbelief.

"What's going to happen now, professor?" Jean asked, her voice shaking.

"Now that Apocalypse has been released, I fear that the world is in great danger," Professor X replied. "I anticipate the greatest battle of our lives is yet to come. But right now, there's nothing we can do. All we _can_ do is return home and go from there."

"So we're back to square one," Wolverine growled as he exited the same room Apocalypse came out of earlier, carrying an unconscious Rogue.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Siren asked as she glanced at Rogue's still form.

"Apocalypse drained her but she'll be fine," Wolverine replied.

"Wait a second," Shadowcat said. "If Apocalypse took the Eye of Ages, aren't we sorta stranded here without the XM-Velocity?"

"Not exactly, petite femme," Gambit reassured. "We gotta plane right outside."

"Who's going to get the XM-Velocity in Egypt then?" Cyclops asked. Everyone's eyes immediately fell on Quicksilver.

"Quicksilver, go back to Egypt to retrieve the jet," Magneto commanded.

"Storm go with him," Professor X said. "Fly the jet back to the mansion and we'll meet you there. Would you be needing a lift as well, Magneto?"

"My Acolytes and I can manage on our own," Magneto said. "We have important business to attend to in Egypt."

"Very well then," Professor X nodded. "X-Men, let's head home."

* * *

Two weeks later

Apocalypse has been strangely quiet since he's been released. According to the professor he hasn't been to be detected by cerebro and Beast hasn't found any news reports about him. I've actually been extremely worried about Apocalypse's next move. This is an angry ancient and powerful mutant that wants to turn every human into mutants. Who wouldn't be afraid of what he has planned if he succeeds? Would we become his mutant army or his slaves? Either one sounds horrible which is why we're determined to not let this happen. All we have to do now is wait for him to make a move and be ready to stop him when he does. For now however, we're just waiting and waiting for something like this is troubling to everyone. But it's a good thing I have a date to distract me. I called Warren a couple days ago and he said he had the perfect night planned for us. So here I was getting ready for my date with the girls.

"Where is he taking you?" Kitty asked. "Maybe he'll take you out in his private jet!"

I giggled and replied "He wouldn't tell me. He's says it a surprise and that I should dress formally."

"You're so lucky," Amara gushed. "You're going on a date with a hot rich guy."

"I don't care if he's rich," I told them. "He's a really sweet and charming guy and I'd like to get to know him better."

"Good for you, Mina," Jean encouraged. "You need a little happiness in your life especially after you know, your last boyfriend."

"A thing of the past," I dismissed with a smile and a wave of my hand. "I'm on to better people now. Pietro will just have to deal with it."

A ring at the doorbell ignited a fit of squeals from us.

"Oh my gosh, he's here," Kitty said running over to the window. "And he brought a limo!"

"Really?" I asked with a twinkle in my eye. "I guess he spares no expense on his dates. Would you guys mind going downstairs and keeping him company while I finish? And by keep him company I mean keep Logan away from him."

They giggled and nodded before exiting the room.

Ten minutes later

"Sorry for the wait," I said as I began to descend the stairs. "How do I look?"

Warren looked incredibly handsome in his simple black tux and couldn't take his eyes off of me. I carefully maneuvered down the steps while holding the hem of my floor length hazelnut colored ballgown. It was completely covered in the back to hide my scars while it had a deep neckline in the front revealing enough breast to look both sexy and classy without being sleazy and a slit on the left side that started mid thigh. I tried my best to not tumble down the stairs with the matching three inch heels I had on my feet. My hair was smoothed down at the top and secured by a studded pin and the bottom half had a cascade of curls that flowed down my left shoulder.

"You look gorgeous," Warren said as he tried his best to contain a blush and stop staring. "Simply breathtaking."

"Thank you," I replied flattered and blushing hard. "Shall we go?"

"Yes," Warren agreed as he took my hand and led me toward the door.

"Have her back by eleven and we won't have a problem, bub," Logan warned as he extended his claws near Warren's face.

"Yes sir," Warren stammered slightly before regaining his composure.

"Thank you, Logan," I said through a smile and clenched teeth. "You can go now."

"Have fun you two," Logan growled.

* * *

"Dinner was amazing," I said as Warren and I sat in the backseat of his limo. "The seafood was delicious and that dessert was just the best."

"I'm glad you liked it," Warren said as the Limo came to a stop. "Hopefully you're not too full to enjoy some dancing."

"Dancing," I questioned with a raised eyebrow. "My feet might hurt later but I'm sure it'll be worth it."

We entered the ballroom of the Hotel Serenity and other couples were there dancing and having a good time. There were statues of angels set up in each corner, porcelain vases filled with the finest flowers and waiters walking around the venue serving drinks and delicate finger food.

"May I have this dance?" Warren asked as he swept his toward the dance floor.

"You may," I giggled as I took his hand and we scooted closer together to dance to the slow music. He rested his hands on my waist and I wrapped my arms around his neck. "This is nice. You sure know how to treat a girl, Warren."

"Warren?" a deep voice said from behind us. "As in Warren Worthington III?

Warren looked at the man and grinned before shaking his hand. "Mr. Timothy H. Douglas. It's nice to see you again."

"As am I," Mr. Douglas replied. He noticed the dark brown hair behind Warren and said "I didn't know you were on a date. May I meet this lovely lady?"

"Of course," Warren said as he stepped out from in front of me. "Mr. Douglas, this is my date for this evening, Semina Wilson."

I stuck out my hand and said "Nice to meet you."

He looked down at my hand in utter disgust and raised an eyebrow. "This girl is your date?"

"Yes she is," Warren said as he stiffened.

"What would your father think if he knew you were dating someone like her?" Mr. Douglas spat.

A surprised look crossed my face and I sputtered "Excuse me!"

"It's alright, Semina," Warren soothed with a nervous look on his face.

(Why do I get the feeling this isn't because I'm a mutant?) I telepathically asked him.

(I'm really sorry about this,) he replied.

"Mr. Douglas, I don't appreciate you insulting my date like this," Warren responded them in a firm voice. "I'd like you to apologize."

Mr. Douglas guffawed and hissed "I'll do no such thing! You expect me to apologize to her kind? Absurd!"

"And what exactly do you mean by 'my kind', Mr. Douglas?" I asked in the most polite voice I could muster.

"Have you looked in the mirror recently?" Mr. Douglas quipped with a sneer. "Generations ago, my family could have owned your family! Warren here is probably your way of making some quick cash."

I stood there not knowing how to reaction to his blatant racism. "Well, I'm sorry you feel that way, Mr. Douglas. Warren, I'd like to go home now, please."

"But Semina," Warren pleaded until I gave him a desperate look. "Very well."

We brushed past the crowd of people but I stopped him in the lobby when I saw a breaking news report.

"We're here live in Mexico where a mysterious purple energy dome has appeared around one of the ancient Mayan pyramids," the reported said. "Nothing has been able to penetrate this dome but the Army is working fervently to try to do so."

"Apocalypse," Warren and I whispered.

"Now you really need to take me home," I urged as we ran out of the hotel. We entered the limo and I rummaged through my purse and found my communicator. "Cyclops I just saw the news. I'm en route back to the mansion. I'll be there in twenty."

"There's no time left, Tsunami," Cyclops replied. "We've already headed to Mexico."

"Oh, okay," I replied, slightly relieved and disappointed. "I guess you won't be needing me then. Tsunami out."

"Does this mean you've changed your mind about going home?" Warren hopefully asked.

"No, this date was a disaster and I just want to head home," I replied not being able to look in his eyes. "It wasn't your fault but I refuse to be subjected to racism. I already get enough hate from the humans about being a mutant."

"So be it," Warren sigh, disappointed. "Driver take us back to the Xavier Institute."

After a painfully silent drive, we pulled up to the mansion and Warren escorted me to the door. "I'm sorry this wasn't the perfect evening I planned."

"It's not your fault," I reassured, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We could always try again."

"You're willing to go out with me again?" Warren asked with an incredulous look on his face.

I smiled and nodded my head. "Just this time, let's keep it simple. Like a movie o something? I know you're rich and all but you don't need to go all out for me."

Warren smiled making his blue eyes sparkle and replied "I'll keep that in mind."

I reached up and placed a kiss on his cheek before I headed inside. I didn't even reach the stairs before my phone began to buzz. It was the dry cleaners telling me that this was my last day to pick up what I dropped off.

'What did I send to the-' I began to question before the answer hit me. There wasn't any time for me to change so I grimaced and headed outside to my car to pick it up before the dry cleaners closed.

At the Brotherhood House

Wanda irritatedly groaned as she stormed out of the living room. Those idiots were interrupting her from watching the news on Apocalypse. She began to head up to her room to watch it there but a knock on the door stopped her. She walked over to the door and opened it. Wanda raised an eyebrow in surprise before rudely asking "What are you doing here, Semina? Aren't you supposed to be with the rest of the X-Men in Mexico?"

"They sorta left me behind," I shrugged before holding up the suit jacket in my hand. "Can you give this to your brother for me?"

Wanda snorted before saying "Do it yourself. Pietro, get down here!"

I stumbled out words of protest but Pietro had already sped down in front of me. Wanda walked away without another word but a look of frustration on her face. He eyed me up and down making me feel uncomfortable before leaning up against the door frame. Pietro couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked but refused to say that out loud. He also noticed that her neck was bare of any jewelry, more specifically the locket he gave her and a hurt look flashed his face before he covered it in arrogance.

"Well, well, well," Pietro said. "What brings you here? Date with that Warren guy not go as expected?"

"I came to return your blazer," I replied shoving it toward him and avoiding the question. "That's it."

Pietro eyed the jacket and asked "Is that the one I wore to the dance?"

"Yes it is," I replied as I shoved it at him again. "I had it dry cleaned for you. Take it!"

"Wow, how thoughtful of you," Pietro said with a teasing smirk.

"Yeah, I'm a saint," I dryly said. He took the jacket from me and as I turned to leave a loud clap of thunder made me jump into his arms. I blushed furiously before pulling myself off of him.

"Aww, what's wrong? Is wittle Semina scared off of a wittle thunder?" Pietro mocked.

"NO," I snapped before another clap of thunder sounded making me jump into his arms again. It began to rain hard and I groaned. "Oh yay! Now I'm stuck here."

Pietro raised a confused eyebrow. Semina could easily stop the raindrops with her powers or make sure she doesn't get wet but she's either forgotten she has mutant powers or was subconsciously choosing to stay here. Pietro inwardly smiled because he knew exactly which one it was.

"Too bad," Pietro shrugged. "Might as well come in."

I entered the Brotherhood house and sighed. Being back in here just brings back memories I would prefer to stay in the recesses my mind. What Pietro said to me in Egypt was still fresh on my mind and I was constantly glaring at him in anger.

"I know that look," Pietro chuckled. "You're still angry because I finally told you what you needed to hear."

"Of course I'm still angry," I snapped. "What you said hurt me...a lot."

"Now-you-know-how-I-felt-every-time-you-pointed-out-my-faults," Pietro snarled in super speed. "Doesn't feel too good, does it?"

"No, but did you have to go and say it in front of everyone?" I asked I looked down suddenly finding my shoes interesting. "You basically humiliated me."

Pietro took note of her sad expression and said "Okay, so maybe that was a little uncalled for."

"Yeah it was," I chuckled slightly. My tiny smile faded as I looked away from him and quietly said "But it didn't make it any less true. I am all the things you called me and I deserved what you said to me. I can be a huge bitch sometimes and maybe I am really bossy but..."

I trailed off and Pietro picked up and said "But its what makes you so feisty. And that's not a bad thing, at least for me anyway."

I simply hid my blushing face before I felt my heart flutter.

"Want something to drink?" Pietro asked. "We have water, water, water and oh some water."

I laughed and said "Ooh, tough choice. There's a lot of good things there. But I think I'll go with the water."

"Excellent choice," Pietro said as he looped his arm in mine and escorted me toward the kitchen. I leaned against the counter while he took two bottles of water out of the fridge.

We stood there awkwardly before Pietro said "So how _was_ your date? From how you're dressed he must've taken you somewhere fancy."

"The date was fine," I shrugged. "Warren took me to this upscale restaurant in Manhattan then we went dancing. It was no big deal."

"Oh," came Pietro's delayed response. "Was that it?"

"The date got cut short because of the Apocalypse's dome in Mexico. After that he just took me home," I replied, conveniently leaving out the kiss on the cheek I gave Warren.

"Yeah, that is right," Pietro said nodding his head remembering the dome. "Why aren't you there with the X-Geeks?"

"They left me," I said. "They didn't have time to wait for me."

"You getting left behind isn't all bad. At least you're here with me," Pietro smirked, a pinkish tinge coming to his face. "You get to enjoy some time with the hottest guy on earth."

A blush crept onto my face as well and my heart fluttered some more. "Arrogant as always. It would be a shame if you changed. I think I'm used to your natural tendencies. Like your insatiable sugar habits. And speaking of that, please tell me you have more Pixie sticks!"

Pietro put his head down in laughter before putting it back up and I took notice of the way his bang fell into his face slightly and how his teeth gleamed, how the skin around his eyes crinkled slightly, his smooth laughter and his sapphire eyes that always made me melt.

Pietro noticed how I zoned out and said "Se-mi-na! You okay? You zoned out there for a sec. I said their in the cabinet above your head on the top shelf."

"Oh, right," I stammered mentally kicking myself for getting caught up in his looks. I opened the cabinet and reached for the Pixie Sticks but my height wouldn't allow me. "I hate being so short."

"Let me get those for you," Pietro offered. Before I could move he zoomed over to me, reached above my head and pulled them out. I could smell his signature cologne and inhaled deeply. It's a smell that I missed. His face was right in front of mine when he said "Here you go."

I made no motion to grab them because we were lost in each others eyes. Before I knew it, he was leaning into me and I was leaning into him. Our lips slightly brushed against each others and for a moment we both hesitated. However it was I who pulled his head down forcing his lips to crash into mine. It was just like old times when we used to kiss. My skin would feel like it was covered in little sparks and fireworks were shooting through my body. My lips parted granting Pietro's tongue access in and my hand made its way up his shirt. Pietro grabbed my waist and hoisted me on the counter so he wouldn't have to bend down any further and our lips never once parted from each others. Pietro's fingers lightly traced my exposed thigh through the slit in my dress as he assaulted my neck.

"I missed you so much," Pietro told me. I sensed he was telling the truth and silenced him with a kiss.

"Don't talk," I breathlessly whispered. "Just kiss me."

Pietro happily obliged and as soon as he started to undo the zipper on the back of my dress, we both stopped when we heard someone say "Whoa."

We pulled apart from each other to see Wanda and Lance gaping at us in shock. My face went hot with embarrassment as I slowly slid off the countertop and readjusted my dress.

"I-I should probably go," I stuttered as I grabbed my purse of the counter and ran toward the door into the rain outside.

"You guys were just-! Were you to about to-? And in the kitchen?" Lance asked dumbfounded on what he just walked in on. "What the hell just happened here?"

Pietro didn't reply as he brushed past his best friend and sister. He was headed up to his room when a knock at the door sent him back downstairs. He flung the door open to find a rain drenched Semina.

I nervously bit my lip and with tears in my eyes whispered "I don't want to go."

Pietro stepped out of the doorway and I walked back inside. "My date with Warren was okay but he doesn't make me feel like you do. I don't have as much fun with him than with you. The whole date I couldn't stop thinking about you. "

"I don't believe you," Pietro coldly said, his nostrils flaring. "If you couldn't stop thinking about me why did you go out with him? Why weren't you wearing the locket I gave you? And why do you insist on feeding me lies?"

I reached into my purse and fumbled around through the contents before pulling out the locket. "Pietro, I hate you so much sometimes! But then I look at this remember that I can't stop loving you despite how much you hurt me."

Pietro looked at the locket and reached out to touch it. He held in between his fingers before opening it and gazing at the picture inside. He closed it and put it around my neck before pulling me into a kiss and hugging me tightly. "You don't have to go if you don't want to."

We embraced for a few minutes before coming together in a passionate kiss.

"Hey look!" Toad exclaimed. "Magneto's on T.V!"

We broke apart before running into the living room with the rest of the Brotherhood. Magneto was at the site of the dome in Mexico attacking it with every metal object he could find. Everyone's widened as Apocalypse rose from the top of the pyramid. He stuck his hand out at Magneto and began to pull him forward by some invisible force. Magneto tried to escape but screamed in pain before disappearing in a burst of cosmic light.

"Oh my God," I said in a low tone. "He's dead. Magneto is finally dead."

This should be the happiest moment of my life but my stomach lurched as I saw the expression on Pietro and Wanda's faces. Somehow I couldn't be happy that my biggest enemy died, especially because it's their dad.

"Pietro? Wanda?" I hesitantly said as I reached out to place a hand on Pietro's shoulder. "Are you guys okay?"

"Father," Wanda whispered as she stood in shock staring at the T.V screen. "No. How could Apocalypse kill him? What did he do to deserve this?"

I looked at Wanda like she grew two heads and said "Wanda, your father was a monster!"

"No he wasn't!" Wanda snapped, her hands beginning to glow blue.

"Yes he was!" I shouted. "Do you have any idea what he's done to me and my family? Of course you don't because your loving father-"

Pietro roughly shrugging his hand off of my shoulder stopped my words. In a low, guttural voice I couldn't recognize as his own he growled "You should go. Now."

"Fine," I said sensing he wanted me out of there as soon as possible. "With Magneto dead, hopefully now, Andre can finally rest in peace and you'll finally realize that life is better without him. Maybe now you can make a decision on your own."

"GO NOW!" Pietro shouted once more, his shoulders shaking with anger.

I walked out of the Brotherhood house without any other word.

* * *

When I returned home my brother was overjoyed with Magneto's death as was LaToya but Vivian took the news pretty hard and locked herself in her room. I could hear her hysterically crying and sobbing through the door and suddenly understood why she was so upset. She just watched the man who she loved more than earth itself die on live television. If I were in her place and Pietro was in Magneto's, I would feel the same way. I should be dancing for joy that the man who managed to torture me for years has finally met his demise but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to be. This should be the happiest day of my life, but why do I feel so horrible about it?

A/N: I know why you're unhappy, Semina! But the readers know too. So review and tell me what you thought!This fic is just two chapters and an epilogue from ending guys! *blows party horn* In the next chapter, let's watch as Semina tries to do the impossible. Read the next chapter to find out what I'm talking about!


	33. Unexpected Occurrences

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Keep 'em coming! And I'm thinking of giving my top two reviewers a sneak peek at chapter one of the sequel to Tsunami! They've been reviewing since the story started and I really, REALLY appreciate them a lot. I'm not saying who they are but check your private messaging box a couple of days after I end this story, which will be very _very_ soon, and see if I sent you an excerpt! Here's the new chappie, ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution or any song used in this story, so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

Unexpected Occurrences

I haven't spoken to or heard from Pietro since Magneto died. It's been two months but when he asked me to leave the Brotherhood House the last time I was there he looked really upset and I was really concerned about him. He told me not to be but since when have I ever listened when someone told me to do something? Even with the rising threat of Apocalypse and the dome in Mexico, school continued as usual. I couldn't afford to miss any days of my senior year of high school if I was going to graduate.

"Ms. Wilson!" my Economics teacher, Mrs. Clayton, snapped getting my attention. "I would appreciate if you didn't daydream in my class. I don't understand how you've made it to your senior year when you're so clearly unfocused."

"I guess I'm just lucky," I snidely replied. Mrs. Clayton didn't hate me because I was a mutant, she just hates all of her students, mutant or not. "I've been listening to you this entire time."

"Oh really?" she questioned. "Then what was I just saying about the fifth amendment?"

"That's easy," I dismissed with a wave of my hand. "You were saying that-"

I didn't even get the sentence out before a wave of fear, hysteria and panic ran through me. I clutched my head and the feelings got stronger. These feelings were being transferred through me from Pietro's mind meaning he was in some kind of trouble. This is probably one of the downsides to having your mind linked to another persons. That and as of recently I've been feeling his physical pain as well. I think I'll ask my aunt about that later.

"M-may I be excused?" I asked through gritted teeth trying my hardest not to yell out in mental pain. "It's an emergency."

She didn't even reply before I gathered my things and ran out of the class. I quickly made it to my car and peeled out of the school parking lot. Prying into Pietro's head I figured out that the subway train he was on just derailed but that's all I could decipher through his mass of mood changes for any more information.

'Please be okay,' I whispered as I pulled up to the subway entrance where I located Pietro's mind. I jumped out of my car and pushed through the crowd looking for him. I breathed a sigh of relief as I found him running out of the wreckage. I roughly brushed past a firefighter who failed to restrain me, ran into Pietro and hugged him tightly.

"Pietro, you're okay!" I exclaimed as I tightened my grip on him. Forgetting that we broke up because of my overwhelming concern for his safety, I deeply kissed him before I whispered "Don't ever scare me like that again."

Pietro, who was already in shock from the train derailment, stood frozen for a moment before smirking and saying "I should scare you more often if I knew you'd be kissing me in front of the entire town."

My cheeks flushed red as my senses returned and I turned to see dozens of news reporters with microphones and cameras. An explosion behind me shook me back into reality and Pietro quickly pulled me away from getting hurt. With his arms protectively wrapped around me, I went rigid but on the inside I was melting.

I pulled my self out of his arms and quickly said "I'm fine really. Seeing that you're okay, I-I have to go."

I ran off before he could say anything but failed to dodge the camera bulbs that flashed in my face as I got into my car and drove home.

The next morning

Word of the Brotherhood saving people in the train derailment spread over all of Bayville like wildfire. Their heroism was the top story on every newspaper, news channels and radio station! Well that and one other story people couldn't seem to forget.

"Miss Wilson! Miss Wilson! Can we get a picture over here?" a reporter shouted as they trailed behind me.

"How are things with you and Pietro?" another called out.

"How did you meet?" a third yelled. "Are you two in love?"

"Leave me alone!" I yelled as I ran in through the mansion gates before slamming them shut. This morning when I went out for my morning jog around the neighborhood like a usually do, a group of reporters started following me bombarding me with questions about Pietro. I ran into the mansion and slammed the door before dashing into the kitchen for some water. I slumped in the chair and everyone looked at me as I panted in exhaustion.

"What happened to you?" Rogue asked.

"Have you seen the newspaper?" I asked.

"Yeah, the Brotherhood is all over the front page," Kitty huffed. "I like can't believe it."

"Turn to the second page," I advised them.

Scott picked up the newspaper on the table and did so. As everyone looked at the story they all raised an amused eyebrow at me.

"Quicksilver's Lover Spotted At The Sight Of Train Derailment," Scott read aloud. "Move over ladies! It looks like Pietro Maximoff, a member of the Brotherhood, already has a girl to call his own. The girl identified as Semina Wilson, another mutant resident of Bayville, was seen embracing Maximoff before they shared a loving kiss. From the fear on her face and twinkle in his eye, it looks like this mutant hero is deeply in love with his mutant girlfriend."

Rogue, Kurt and LaToya all burst into amused laughter as the others looked dumbstruck.

"Can you believe that?" I exclaimed. "Reporters have been swarming me since this morning! They're stalked out by the front gate asking me for an 'exclusive interview' all because of one stupid kiss!"

"We didn't even see you at the derailment," Kitty said. "How did you get there before us?"

"Semantics," I replied. "That's not important. All I know is that I don't like being included in something like this."

(Why not? You're famous because of me!) Pietro exclaimed as he picked up on my thoughts.

(I don't want to be famous!) I snapped. (Wanda is the one who caused the derailment in the first place so you're technically not even a hero.)

(Yeah well the public doesn't know that,) Pietro replied. (And you won't tell them either.)

(And why is that?) I asked.

(Because if you do, your name will be slandered with ours,) Pietro explained. (And we all know you can't have that happen.)

(You're a devious person,) I angrily said. (Fine, I won't say anything about it but this better be the only time this happens.)

(I make no promises,) Pietro replied.

And for the next few days, Pietro and the Brotherhood did exactly what I thought they would. They started causing accidents just so they could save people and look like heroes in the eye of the public. I, of course, knew exactly what they were doing and how they were going to do it and the guilt was eating me alive. So here I was at the breakfast table with my fingers on my temples in deep concentration. Locating my mental target, I tried my hardest to eliminate it completely.

"Almost...got...it," I muttered quietly. I've been trying to do this for days and I think I'm close to achieving my goal.

The link looked like it was beginning to weaken as I put my all into breaking it. I almost had it when a giant wave of psychic repulsion threw me out of my chair and into the wall. Wherever Pietro was the same thing just happened to him and I doubt he was happy.

"Semina! What are doing?" Vivian asked.

"What does it look like?" I snapped, slightly irritated it didn't work. "I've been trying for days to break this stupid mental link!"

(What the hell, Semina?) Pietro shouted. (Are you trying to kill us?)

"That's a chance I'm crazy enough to take," I replied out loud and telepathically. "Do you have _any_ idea how guilty you're making me feel?"

(You shouldn't feel guilty because the link _you_ put up is sharing my thoughts over to you,) Pietro retorted. (But if you're so guilty about it why don't you just tell the X-Geeks about it?)

"Fine! I will!" I shouted. "You can be a real asshole sometimes, Pietro."

(But you love me anyway,) Pietro teased. (The newspapers say so.)

I huffed before breaking off our conversation.

"Tell me, Semina," Professor X began with a concerned look. "What exactly do you feel guilty about?"

I uncomfortably shifted on the floor before I stood up and sighed. "Well, the Brotherhood kinda has been causing all the Bayville disasters...including the derailment."

"And why didn't you tell us?" Scott demanded, an angry crease forming on his forehead.

I looked down, away from the judging glare he was giving me through his shades and whispered "You wouldn't understand. I can't help that I want to protect him."

"He's putting innocent lives in danger!" Scott yelled. "How can you say that you want to protect him?"

'Because I still love him!' I screamed in my head. 'And I would do anything to keep him safe, no matter how much it costs me.'

Instead I offered a shrug and replied "I don't know."

"Then you won't mind helping us stop them then," Scott said. "Look, you know what they're gonna do next. So you can track Pietro's mind and lead us straight to them."

"I-I can't do that," I sputtered angrily.

"I'm sorry, Semina but you can't put your own feelings first in this particular situation," Scott coldly voiced. "The team has to be your first priority. We have to stop the Loserhood before they destroy anything else or end up hurting innocent people."

Not having any other choice I growled "Just don't ask me to be happy about it" as I stormed out of the kitchen and up to my room. My aunt came in after me and sat down on my bed.

"Why were you trying to break your telepathic link to Pietro?" she inquired. " It's impossible even with your enhanced powers. You know that it can't be broken."

"It can if both people want it gone," I said. "And he always complains about it being there so I thought I'd do us both a favor and get rid of it."

"It's far too late for that," Vivian dryly chuckled. "It's become too strong to sever."

"Why does it keep getting stronger?" I asked.

"Because you two love each other," Vivian explained with a look that said 'duh'. "If you two hated each other, it would probably just wither away. Being linked to another person's mind is a dangerous thing but it's also a beautiful thing. It allows two people to connect on a mental level that virtually nobody can come between. Face it, Mina. You're stuck with that link 'til death do you part. But then again you two both knew the risks."

"Yeah and he said 'yes' anyway," I replied as I recalled that night before a thought struck me. "But wait, I thought a telepathic link was strictly mental. Why is it that I can feel when Pietro is in physical pain?"

"A very rare occurrence," Vivian explained. "The bond became physical after you two 'sealed the deal' if you know what I mean."

"Oh yeah," I remorsefully sighed. My skin tingled every time I was reminded of that. "That was a spur of the moment thing."

"And there lies your biggest problem, Semina," Vivian said. "When it comes to Pietro, your judgment gets cloudy. Your focus and common sense turn off when you're around him."

"I do get pretty stupid around him, don't I?" I sheepishly grinned.

"More like irresponsible and reckless," Vivian rephrased. "Maybe some time apart is just what you two need."

"Maybe," I agreed. My head snapped up before I said "Get the X-Men, the Brotherhood is on the move."

* * *

I sat in the X-Van with Logan and Medulla tracking Pietro's movement while projecting their location to the X-Men who were set up in locations around the city.

(He's going down 5th and Main,) I said. (Nightcrawler, you're the closest. 'Port on top of the Berkeley Insurance building and you'll find Lance's jeep heading down the street.)

"I found zhem," Nightcrawler said through his communicator. "Vait, zhey just turned around."

"Where are they headed, kid?" Wolverine asked me.

"Edward Kelly's office," I growled. "Can't we just let them trash the place and give that douchebag what he deserves?"

"You don't know how tempting that sounds," Wolverine gruffly replied. "But we _are_ the good guys."

We arrived at Kelly's office a little too late and found it already trashed. I couldn't help but smile because that mutant hating madman got what was coming to him. The X-Men spread over the building and surrounded the Brotherhood forcing them to retreat. I picked the place right outside the hallway exit to catch Pietro on his way out. The Brotherhood shot me dirty looks as they saw me leaning against the wall. I grabbed Pietro's hand and guided him into one of the janitor closets.

"How could you do this to me?" Pietro hissed once we were out of ear range. "You tracked us here using our link!"

"I know what I did," I firmly said. He doesn't know how hard it was for me to do this to him but then again we are linked so he's probably just ignoring it. "But I had no choice. Just like you, my team comes first. I can't even for a second do anything that could lose their trust in me."

"Oh, this was you proving your loyalty to the X-Geeks," Pietro huffed. "And you used me as a way to do it."

"Like you haven't done the same to me," I snapped. "You told Magneto about my pyrophobia."

Pietro's reaction tells me he never intended me to find out.

"And you've been feeding him information about the mansion's security system and God knows what else," I continued. My eyes glazed over in anguish as I said "Why do we have to constantly betray and hurt each other?"

"It comes with being a hero and a villain, Semina," Pietro replied. "I don't think there was ever room for a relationship here."

"You don't really mean that, do you?" I asked as I bit my lip uncertainly.

"I-I do," Pietro replied avoiding my eyes.

"You're lying to me," I said without reading his mind. "You think that saying these things will somehow make you forget about what we had but it won't work."

A long silence passed before he even replied. "So maybe I am lying...but what am I supposed to do, Mina?" Pietro shouted. "Just lay down and accept this?"

"I never asked you to," I shouted back. "I'm not asking you to do anything!"

"Then why are we in this closet talking about this?" Pietro asked.

"Because neither of us want to leave," I replied, my eyes welling up with frustration. "Because the moment we do, we'll have to go back to being two people on opposite teams that _have_ to hate each other. And I really don't want that."

Tears rolled down my cheeks and to my surprise Pietro brushed them away.

"We may hate it but that's the way it has to be," Pietro replied. "Neither of us can change that."

And without another word or even a glance my way, he exited the closet. I felt his mind leave the building and walked out of the closet and back into the room with the X-men, furiously wiping at my eyes to stop the tears.

"Can we go?" I quietly asked.

"Why were you gone so long?" Cyclops asked. He couldn't see my face because my back was turned toward him.

I whirled around, letting them see my tears and yelled "CAN WE _PLEASE_ JUST GO!" before running out of the building toward the X-Van.

The Next Day

Once again, the X-Men are using my link to Pietro to track them down and make sure they stay out of trouble. So here we are at the grand opening of the new zoo, waiting to intervene if anything comes up.

"Cheer up, Mina," Kurt begged. "You can't mope vhile you're at zhe zoo!"

"Kurt, you know I hate the zoo," I dryly replied.

"Vell zhen you just can't mope zhen," Kurt said.

Kitty nodded her head and said "Kurt's right. You're a total downer when you're upset."

"And come on," Anthony chided. "Pietro isn't even worth it."

I kept silent as I saw the Brotherhood take the stage. Pietro did some type of speech about being honored before he said that there were mutants out there that were resentful of their fame. The people he named where the X-Men.

(Semina, I want you to go now,) Pietro warned. (Things are about to get a little crazy.)

(You're sending Wanda to make us look like the bad guys,) I said in disbelief as I read his mind. (I can't believe you'd ever stoop this low.)

Wanda took control of Bobby's powers and froze the floor under everyone's feet. I immediately turned the ice back into water just as an elephant stepped onto it. Wanda took control of my hydrokinesis and made me take all the water from the exhibits and throw them onto the people who shrieked in disgust. All of this happened in under five minutes but the police were already on the scene ready to cart us away. Two officers roughly grabbed my wrists and tried to handcuff me. One of them was being excessively rough and I tried to struggle out of his grasp.

"Let me go! I haven't done anything! Ow! Stop twisting my wrist!" I yelled as I continued to struggle.

I felt the jolt of electrocution run up my spine as I felt one of the officers poke me with their taser. I continued to struggle because I've felt worse electrical shocks than this. I mean come on, I live with a guy named Ray Crisp. But then I looked at Pietro who was in as much pain as I was in and stopped my struggle when I felt them turn the power higher. As they escorted me to a police car, I locked eyes with Pietro.

"TRAITOR!" I screamed at him before I was roughly shoved into the back of the squad car.

At the Bayville Jail

The cell doors slammed in front of my face with a metallic clank. Never thought that I'd see the inside of a jail cell but here I was...behind bars...in jail...because of Pietro.

'I can't believe I'm in jail,' I thought bitterly.

"How long are we gonna be in here, professor?" I asked as he wheeled in with a distressed face. "I'm not very good with captivity."

"You'll have to remain here until I can have everything sorted out," Professor X replied. "But until then, I'm afraid you're stuck here. And that means no powers, understood?"

"Yes professor," we sighed as he wheeled back out the door.

I sat on the prison bench and put my head between my heads. How did Pietro and I ever end up here? Come to think of it, it's probably all downhill from here. Think about it. Evan and Pietro used to be best friends but once Pietro got Evan put in jail he started to hate him! Am I gonna end up the same way? For some reason I don't think so because Evan wasn't in love with Pietro. But I am. Time will only tell if there will ever be an us again. My head snapped up and I gasped.

"He didn't," I gasped as I pried into Pietro's mind further.

"What's going on, Mina?" Anthony questioned from his cell.

"That stupid idiot!" I exclaimed as I shot up from the bench and rushed over to the bars. "Uh, excuse me officers? I think you should let us out now!"

"Why would we do that?" one of them asked.

"Because something really really bad is gonna happen soon," I warned them. The officers obviously didn't believe me and returned to their work.

"Semina, what's going on?" Jean asked.

"Pietro just shorted out the brakes system to a train," I explained. "It has no way to stop and there are at least fifty people on board."

"If they started the problem, they can stop it themselves," Kitty scoffed.

"Yeah, not so much," I said. "Did I forget to mention that another train is coming in the same direction carrying eight tankers of gasoline? Oh and that train can't stop either. So if they two trains hit each other...BOOM! That explosion could wipe out an entire block."

"How much time before the trains collide?" Scott asked.

"I can't tell," I replied. "That coward already left the scene."

Professor X and his excellent timing came to our aid as our cell door opened and we immediately left. However, I asked Professor X to sit this one out. There were a few people I had to see first.

After stopping to several newspaper companies and paying a visit to the richest woman in Bayville I pulled my car up to the Brotherhood house. I laughed as I saw the last of the U-Haul drive off with the stuff the Brotherhood bought with their check. Pietro looked out his window, no doubt sensing my presence, to see me outside in my car with a smug grin. I blew him a kiss before laughing and driving off.

* * *

Several days later

I was actually bored out of my skull right now. I was just flipping through the channels looking for something decent to watch when a purple dome appearing on the screen is what managed to catch my attention.

"Guys, get in here now!" I yelled.

Everyone ran in and looked at the breaking news report as I turned the volume higher.

"A purple energy dome similar to the one in Mexico has just appeared here in China," the reporter said. "It's surrounding a Chinese pyramid said to be dated back to 3000 B.C. Chinese armed forces have set up a perimeter around the dome ready to attack at the word of the Chinese ambassador."

"If they attack that dome, it'll just repel whatever they fired," Logan said. "And we all know what happened the last time."

I noticed my aunt tense up and asked "Should we suit up and head over there?"

"It won't do any good," Professor X said shaking his head. "We must stay here and further our knowledge on the domes before we make any more moves."

* * *

"See this is much more like it," I said as sat on the checkered picnic sheet.

"I never thought a simple picnic could be this enjoyable," Warren agreed as he sat next to me.

I called Warren and asked if he was free for a picnic and he said that he would reschedule all his meetings to have one with me. I made us lunch and everything.

"I hope that grilled shrimp and citrus rice isn't too down home for you, rich boy," I teased with a smile.

Warren chuckled slightly exposing his gleaming white teeth before replying "Not at all. It looks delicious."

"Wee wait 'til you taste it," I said as I began to feed him a spoon of rice when his cell phone rang. I sighed and said "Go ahead and answer it."

Warren flashed me an apologetic face before standing to take his call.

(You can come out now,) I telepathically told my spy behind the tree.

Pietro walked out from behind the tree and said "I wasn't spying on you."

"Then why were you hiding behind the tree?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"It's a free park," Pietro retorted. "I can do whatever the hell I want."

"Whatever," I shrugged. Warren came back and looked at Pietro with jealousy and suspicion. "Let's get back to our picnic, Warren. Pietro was just leaving."

"Actually, I'll have to take a raincheck on our picnic," Warren regrettably sighed. "That was my father. He wants to see me about something important."

"Oh," came my disappointed reply. Warren bent down and kissed my cheek before saying goodbye and retreating back to his limo. "Go ahead and laugh, Pietro. I know you want to."

Pietro guffawed before I shot him a glare. "You told me to laugh."

I hit him in the leg and said "I never thought you'd do it!"

"Well, while I'm here you might as well have a picnic with me," Pietro said, inviting himself to sit. "Think of it as my way of making up for our coffee date."

"I have nothing to lose at this point," I muttered before brightening up a bit. "Just like old times, huh?"

"Just like old times," Pietro agreed.

An hour later

"And then he got his head stuck in the toilet!" Pietro said dying of laughter.

I wiped away tears from so much laughing and chuckled "It's always funny when Toad takes his monthly shower."

"But not as funny when Blob tries to eat vegetables," Pietro added. "You should see his face when he tries to chew it! It's like he's gonna barf!"

Pietro and I fell into fits of laughter before simultaneously sighing.

"I'll admit I was skeptical at first about this picnic but it turned out to be fun," I admitted.

"Much more fun than with that Warren guy, right?" Pietro mocked.

"Ooh, do I detect a hint of jealousy?" I teased.

"What's there to be jealous of?" Pietro sputtered. "I'm much more handsome than he is. Besides the guy looks too uptight and stuffy for you."

"He's a nice guy," I countered. "And I enjoy being around him."

"But does he make you as happy as I do?" Pietro questioned. I hesitated before I answered prompting him to exclaim "Aha! I knew it! You don't really like this guy do you?'

"I do like him," I answered. "Just...not like...the way the wants me to. I really don't think I could be anything more than friends."

Pietro smugly smirked before I asked "Why do you care anyway? Shouldn't you be concerned with that Ashley chick who's been stalking you?"

Pietro paled and said "How did you know about that? Oh wait. Never mind. Besides don't change the subject. When are you gonna break the news to the rich boy?"

"Hmm, for someone who denies being jealous, you sure sound eager for me to stop spending time with Warren," I chuckled. "Is this because he kissed me on the cheek before he left?"

"What? No," Pietro stammered. "I don't care who you kiss or not."

"I think you do," I said in a mocking sing-song voice. "Come on, just admit that you're jealous of Warren and we can both go home."

"Then I guess we'll be out here for months then," Pietro stubbornly replied as he crossed his arms. "Because Pietro Maximoff isn't jealous of any guy."

"Except Warren," I muttered.

"Am not," he said.

"Are too," I said.

And for the next couple minutes we argued with these two responses until we got bored.

"It's getting late," I yawned as I stood up to stretch. "I should be getting back to the mansion."

"Back to the cushy life of an X-Geek," Pietro snickered. "I should be getting back too. See ya around."

Pietro sped off before I could even say goodbye. I started gathering the picnic stuff before a gust of wind blew by and in front of me lay a single white rose from a white haired speed demon.

The next day

Warren called me yesterday and apologized what seems like a million times and asked if we could have another picnic. But what Pietro said to me kept replaying in my head. I really couldn't be anything more than friends with Warren but I reluctantly agreed and got ready as we headed to the park...again.

"You're not gonna run out on me again, will you?" I teased.

"I give you my word that I won't," Warren smiled. "But just in case we get interrupted again, I'll do this now."

To my surprise, Warren leaned down and kissed me...on the lips. It was different from Pietro's kisses. This one didn't make my insides happily churn or make my skin tingle. I couldn't feel any emotion in it at all. And deep down, I felt wrong for kissing someone who wasn't Pietro. And speaking of Pietro...

"What's wrong?" Warren asked as I pulled away from him.

"Oh don't stop on my account," Pietro angrily boomed from behind Warren.

"What are you doing here again?" Warren asked. "I'm not sure if you noticed but we're on a date."

"Yeah, I noticed," Pietro snapped, his nostrils flaring. "But I wouldn't call this a date if the girl doesn't see you as more than a friend. Go ahead, Semina tell him.

"I-, uh," I stammered incoherently.

"Tell me what?" Warren asked.

"Look, _Warren_," Pietro spat. "Semina doesn't have romantic feelings for you. She only likes you as a friend. So you can go back to your little highrise penthouse, rich boy."

"I want Semina to tell me that," Warren said with a tight grip in his voice. "Semina is this true?"

I quietly nodded and quickly tried to say something but Warren stood up and began to walk back to his limo. "Warren? Let me explain this myself!"

"You don't need to," Warren icily replied. "He said everything I needed to hear."

"But-" I began before Warren slammed the limo door in my face and drove off. I turned to Pietro who wore a smug smirk with angry vengeful eyes and screamed "What the hell is your problem, Pietro?"

"I don't have a problem," Pietro shrugged. "I just think he needed to hear the truth so you could stop misleading him."

"And you couldn't let me tell him myself?" I irately questioned. "You had no right to do that!"

"What's done is done," Pietro replied.

"Why?" I demanded. "Why would you do this?"

"None of your business," Pietro snapped as he tried to walk away but I grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Just tell me this. Did Warren kissing me make you angry?" I asked, hoping to force the truth out of him. "Can you not handle me being out with other guys?"

"That's not what this is about," Pietro lied. "Like I said yesterday, I don't care who you kiss."

"Oh, really? Then why did you just run off a guy I was having a picnic with?" I inquired. "And how would him kissing me upset you? It's not like you haven't kissed every girl at Bayville High!"

"That's different," Pietro retorted.

"How?" I asked.

"It just is!" Pietro exclaimed.

"No it's not!" I yelled. "You know, you always do this Pietro. You somehow always find a way to pick a fight with me!"

"Maybe-if-you-weren't-kissing-other-guys-I-wouldn't-have-to! I'm-the-**perfect**-guy-but-you-never-seemed-to-realize-that! You-should-be-begging-to-be-with-me! Am-I-not good-enough-for-you or something? Have-I-_ever_-been?" Pietro shouted before quickly covering his mouth.

I felt like my head was going to explode with all of this anger bottled in me. "You know damn well you meant everything to me. Get over yourself and maybe then we can at least try to be something more than two bickering ex's."

Later that night

I was still fuming after I left the park a couple of hours ago while I angrily clicked from channel to channel.

"Jeez, Mina," Kitty said. "Don't break the remote."

"Ja, spare zhe life of zhe poor little thing," Kurt joked.

"What did Pietro do to you this time?" Rogue asked as she walked in crackling with electricity. She noticed us staring inquisitively at her and said "I accidentally absorbed Berserker earlier. Don't ask."

I explained what happened at the park and sighed deeply at the end. "Warren won't even return my calls. He hates me."

"I doubt he hates you," Kitty reassured. "He's just upset that Pietro told him so bluntly. He'll get over it."

Just then a breaking news report flashed on the screen. Earlier today, Evan trashed Duncan Matthew's car and now because of it there were anti-mutant mobs that were swarming here and the Brotherhood house.

Kurt looked out the window and exclaimed "Zhere are everywhere!"

"What do we do?" Kitty asked to no one particular.

I tried my best to not think about the mob outside the Brotherhood house and replied "I'm not sure and I don't care."

Rogue irritatedly sighed and said "You know we can't let the Brotherhood get swarmed by a mob."

"Why not? It's not our problem it's theirs," I huffed.

"Semina," They said with a tone in their voices that said 'We have to do the right thing.'

I stubbornly sat for a moment before groaning "Fine! Let's go help the stupid Brotherhood."

We all latched onto Kurt who teleported us to the Brotherhood house. They all looked startled at our sudden appearance and narrowed their eyes at us.

"What are you doing here?" Lance asked.

"We came to help you guys," I replied. "Against my will, I might add."

"We don't need or want your help!" Wanda retorted.

Something rather large came flying through the window but Rogue zapped it with Berserker's powers and it blasted into small and harmless pieces. "You were saying?" Rogue asked, a hint of smugness in her voice.

"That doesn't prove anything, yo," Toad disagreed.

"Why don't just accept our help?" I snapped. "We know you can take care of yourselves but contrary to popular belief, none of us want to see you get hurt."

"Let 'em stay," Pietro spoke up despite the glares he was receiving. "Think about it. Less work for us and more trouble for them."

"Ya got a point," Fred agreed.

"Fine, X-Geeks, you can stay but just until the mob leaves," Lance said. "But don't think that once this is over that we'll be all buddy buddy."

"Not on your life," Rogue replied.

"Guys, we have company," I muttered. "I'm getting twenty minds trying to come in through the back."

The door burst open and the small mob rushed it with their weapons in hand, ready to strike.

"We're here to stop you muties from taking over," a guy with a bandana around his neck cried out. "Let's get 'em!"

"We can't hurt them...that badly anyway," I deviously said. "Just try to not make anyone bleed or break any bones. Other than that find a way to defend yourselves, not just attack them."

The mob charged for us and we took defensive stances. Two guys came at me and I first relieved them of their weapons then punched one of them. The other grabbed me from behind but Fred pried him off me and tossed him across the room. Kitty phased behind one of the guys, reached through him and grabbed their weapons away then Kurt ported in front of him and kicked him to the ground. Wanda was hexing guys into walls left and right while Toad spit slime into three guys faces and it hardened causing them to fall to the floor trying to pry it off. Lance made a tremor under a group of five guys feet and caused them to fall halfway through the floor from the cracks it created. Fred was constantly picking up members of the mob and throwing them out of the house. Pietro swept most of them into the tornadoes he created from running circles around them and they dizzily fainted on the floor. The last person standing was the guy in the bandana who tried to sneak behind me but who can really sneak up on a telepath? I did a roundhouse kick to his face and he fell to the floor unconscious.

"That's all of them," I panted. "What do we do with them now?"

"I say we put them in Toads room and let them suffer," Pietro snickered.

"Hey! My room isn't that bad!" Toad protested.

"Toad, it's covered in slime and it smells like something died in there," Lance said in disgust. "Something that died _years_ ago."

Wanda groaned in irritation. "We can't leave them in the house!"

"I say we dump 'em outside and leave 'em there," Fred said.

"There's not much else we can do," I shrugged. "Let's just move them outside and let the police deal with them."

We began to drag the unconscious men out through the back door and to the side of the house. I did a head count of the men after we dragged them out.

"Seventeen...eighteen...nineteen," I stopped at nineteen and furrowed my eyebrows. "That's not right. There were twenty guys in the house earlier."

"Maybe you counted wrong," Pietro shrugged before he recounted himself. "Nope, that's definitely nineteen guys. The guy with the bandana is missing"

"Let me scan for him," I said as I closed my eyes and put my fingers to my temple.

Within seconds I found him but those few seconds that I scanned for him where too long. I whirled around just in time to see him pull out a chrome plated gun and squeeze the trigger. His target: me. Everything went by so fast. One moment the bullet was whizzing at me and the next it wasn't. I heard a pained yell and looked on the ground to see Pietro clutching his shoulder with blood oozing out of it. Putting two and two together, I gasped before glaring at the man with such fury I thought I would burn a hole through him. I sent a psionic wave at him so large that it knocked him right off his feet and into the side wall of the Brotherhood house. I scrambled over to Pietro and bent down next to him. His breathing was labored and I sensed he was in a lot of pain. After all, I could feel his pain as if I had gotten shot as well. It was agonizing but he tried his best to mask it on his face.

"Pietro, why would you jump in front of a bullet for me?" I sobbed, disbelief and anguish lining my voice. "You could have sped me out of the way."

"I...lost my sense...for a second," came his simple but pained filled reply. "Didn't...think of that...at the time."

"Don't worry, you're gonna be okay. I promise, " I assured. I looked at the Brotherhood who were staring at Pietro's shoulder. "Don't just stand there gaping! Go get me a bucket of water, a cloth, a pair of scissors and some tweezers."

The police arrived before the Brotherhood came back and took in the sight of the man with the bandana slumped against the wall, Pietro with a bullet in his shoulder and me crying quietly.

"This is Officer Mason," the police officer said into his walkie talkie. "Shots have been fired and there is a mutant down. We're gonna need paramedics over here."

"Don't!" I cried out. "I can take care of this."

The Brotherhood and X-men returned with the items I asked for and handed them to me. I took the scissors and cut a slit in Pietro's shirt so that it was exposing his skin and the bullet wound to me. I dipped the cloth in water and wiped away the excess blood before taking the tweezers and extracting the bullet as carefully as possible. We were both biting our lips in pain after I took the bullet out. Covering my hand in a water glove, I proceeded to heal the wound in Pietro's shoulder until it was completely closed.

"Son of a-," Officer Mason muttered to himself. "How did she do that?"

I cradled his head in my arms and quietly chanted, "You're gonna be alright, Pietro. You're gonna be alright."

After the police carted the man who shot Pietro away along with the rest of his mob, the angry human crowd surrounding the Brotherhood house finally dispersed. I told Kurt, Kitty and Rogue to go home without me because I really couldn't leave Pietro right now. He needs me and I need him. The Brotherhood didn't even put up a fight when I told them I 'd be staying a little longer. Even they understood that no matter how much they bitch about it, I wasn't going anywhere until I knew Pietro was okay.

"Here you go," I whispered as I fluffed the pillow under his head.

Pietro softly chuckled. "A lovely nurse at my bedside. I should get shot in the shoulder more often."

"No you shouldn't," I weakly smiled. "You have no idea how scared I was. Seeing someone you love on the ground with a bullet wedged in your body could scare even the toughest of people. I mean you just threw yourself in front of that bullet without any second thought."

"It's my job to protect you," Pietro quietly replied. "It always has been and I guarantee it always will be."

There was nothing I could say out loud that Pietro didn't already know but I said it anyway. "I love you, Pietro."

Pietro however, was already drifting off to sleep so I simply kissed his forehead and made my way back to the mansion.

A/N: Aww, are they getting back together? Well, maybe. You'll just have to wait and see! Oh and imaninja41 the "impossible" was her trying to break the link. Anticlimactic but I guarantee the rest of the story will knock your socks off. In the next and final chapter before the epilogue it's the infamous fight against Apocalypse! Wow, my story is almost done. *sniff, sniff* But don't worry you have the, not one but _TWO_, sequels to look forward to! Oh and don't forget to review this chapter and tell me what you thought!


	34. It All Comes Down To This

A/N: I want all of my readers to go take a look at my reviews for just a moment. As you can see, I got trolled by someone named "Professor. Kick-Ass". I understand that you have an opinion and I respect that but there's no need to be an ass and call me names. What are you? Five years old? Anyway it won't be wrong to just delete his reviews, I mean look at what he wrote. I stopped doing that along time ago but this was really uncalled for. If you're going to trash me, at least have the guts to log into your account and do it. And thanks to him I'm going to disable anonymous reviews. Sorry smile! I know you love this story but you'll have to make a FanFiction account to review the sequels. I'm really sorry!

Well without further ado...

Here it is, folks. The final chapter of 'Tsunami' (unless you count the epilogue). ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution or any song used in this story, so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

It All Comes Down To This

"Hey, Beast," I greeted as I brought in a steaming bowl of my homemade beef stew, buttery rolls and lemonade on a tray. "You've been working so hard down here I thought I would bring you some lunch."

"Thank you, Semina, that's very kind of you," Beast replied without looking up from the keyboard. He stopped and sniffed the air before asking "Is that beef stew?"

"Yes, it is," I confirmed. "I also brought you some rolls and a glass of fresh lemonade."

"M-maybe I could take a little break," Beast said, finally caving in to hunger.

I passed him the tray and asked "How's the research going anyway? Did you find out anything new yet?"

Beast shook his head in reply. "Apocalypse has been unusually quiet as of late. It worries me."

The computer began to beep rapidly and I said "Looks like he isn't quiet anymore."

Beast quickly polished off his lunch and turned back to his computer.

"What is it this time?" I asked.

"Apocalypse has set up another dome over a pyramid in Egypt," Beast replied. "Contact the professor."

"Already done," I replied. "I sent him a telepathic message a couple seconds ago."

Soon the professor followed by Logan, Ororo and Vivian piled into the room. Beast explained the new development and the professor sighed.

"Now there are three domes set up by Apocalypse and we have no idea what he's planning," Vivian said with a troubled look on her face. "Any ideas on what Apocalypse plans to do now, Charles?"

"I can't say that I do," the professor replied. "But I know who does. Vivian, Semina, I'd like for you two to locate Mesmero on cerebro. Logan, once they find him you and Jean apprehend him and bring him back here for questioning."

"No problem," I answered as my aunt and I walked toward the cerebro room.

"Wait, you can work cerebro?" Vivian questioned.

I nodded slowly and said "You never knew?"

"Couldn't exactly keep track of your life in captivity," Vivian sassed.

"Now I know where I get my attitude from," I chuckled as we entered the room. I picked up the helmet and passed it to her. "Here you go."

My aunt pushed it back in my direction ad said "You do the honors. I want to see how much my favorite nieces powers have grown."

I smiled before putting the helmet on. The grid of the globe opened up in a hologram above me. I scanned the Bayville area for Mesmero first but didn't find him. I then proceeded to scan on a wider radius. A tiny red blip blinked rapidly on screen when I found my target.

"Found him," I exclaimed. "He's a few cities away from Bayville. I'll feed the coordinates over to Logan and Jean."

Once Logan and Jean found Mesmero they handcuffed him and brought him to the main computer room.

"Semina? If you would," Professor X said gesturing toward Mesmero.

I deviously smiled and said "My pleasure."

I walked over to Mesmero and stared him in the eye. "We could do this one of two ways, Mesmero. The easy way if you explain what Apocalypse is planning or the hard way if you want me to forcefully extract the information myself. Your choice."

Mesmero looked a little intimidated for a brief second then put on stubborn face. I chuckled and said "The hard way it is." I put my hands on his hands and closed my eyes. Easily breaking through his mental shield I looked around his head for all the information he had on Apocalypse. Images of the Eye of Ages, the pyramids, the Sphinx and humans screaming in terror flashed into my head. I retracted myself from his head and panted.

"What did you find?" Professor X asked.

"Apocalyspe just tossed Mesmero aside once he was released," I replied. "But he knows what he's going to do and it's big!"

"Continue," the professor said.

"The pyramids are all linked to the Eye of Ages," I explained. "It's powered by the Sphinx somehow. Once Apocalypse is fully powered he's going to use the pyramids to turn every human into mutants by triggering the dormant X-Gene in their blood."

"Not every human," Mesmero spoke up. "Many won't live through the transformation."

"I think you should take a look in there for yourself, professor," I said, rolling my eyes at Mesmero. "There could be something I missed."

"Very well," the professor agreed before going into Mesmero's mind. He took a moment to put the thoughts together before saying "You didn't miss anything. But I know what I have to do now. Storm?"

They began to walk out of the room before I realized what they were doing. I ran up to Storm and asked "You guys are going after him, aren't you?"

"It is what we must do," Storm replied. " And I could never leave the professor to do it alone."

"But Apocalypse is dangerous and you could..." I trailed off as I tried to keep from crying. My voice quivered as I continued. "You and Logan were the closet things I had to loving parents before my aunt came back. I-I can't let you go and face an enemy like Apocalypse without worrying. You may not even come back and-and-"

Storm wrapped her arms around me, smoothed my hair the way a mother would to comfort her child and held me. "Semina, you are a very strong, beautiful and powerful young lady. I have seen you begin to grow into an adult from the moment you walked into the mansion. You overcome your challenges with determination and a fiery passion that is very rare for someone your age. If the worst should happen I want you to keep that strength that burns in your heart."

"I can't see someone else that makes such an impact in my life disappear again," I whispered. "Please promise me that you'll stay safe."

"I will do my best," Storm replied before kissing the top of my head and boarding the X-Jet. Somehow I know that this would be the last time I'll see Storm.

A little while later

The X-men and I joined Beast in the cerebro to see how the professor was doing in his efforts to talk to Apocalypse who had grown much more powerful than the last time we saw him. It looked like he wasn't making any progress. Apocalypse lifted the professor out of his chair with his powers prompting Storm to come out of the X-Jet and defend him. Apocalypse then took a hold on both of them and just like with Magneto, they disappeared in a bright cosmic light burst.

"No," I gasped as my voice caught in my throat. I quickly bolted out of the room to find Logan. I sensed him coming down the elevator and once the doors opened I ran smack into him and sobbed into his chest.

"Whoa, kid! What's wrong?" Logan asked. "Did that pretty boy do something to you again?"

I shook my head and between sobs sputtered "S-storm...and the professor went to...confront Apocalypse..and now they're g-gone."

Logan took a minute to process my jumbled information before letting out a sigh lined with disbelief, anger and sadness all in one. "We'll take Apocalypse down, kid. I promise their sacrifice won't be in vain."

I continued to sob quietly until I felt someone's mind land in the front of the mansion. "Nick Fury just landed out front."

Logan grunted before going back down the elevator to meet him. I proceeded back to the computer room where my aunt did the best to comfort me. A few minutes later Logan and Nick Fury walked in and Fury asked to see the live feeds on the Sphinx. To our shock, there were three _Sentinels_ on their way to Apocalypse as a distraction while nine other Sentinels shot beams at the three energy domes covering the pyramids that could help us destroy them.

"Let me get this straight," Vivian fumed. "You let the man who captured and caged me like a wild animal out of prison to let him make new and improved mutant hunting Sentinels? Do you have any idea what you've done?"

I've seen my aunt mad before but she was _livid_. It tooled like she was trying her best to not pounce on Fury.

"I didn't have a choice to say no," Fury replied.

I loudly scoffed and sarcastically said "The _director_ of S.H.I.E.L.D not having a choice whether or not to release a prisoner? Doubtful."

"Whether you believe it or not, it's true," Fury sighed. "These Sentinels are the closet things we have to taking down Apocalypse."

"Wait, look at the screen," Anthony spoke up. "It looks like Apocalypse is bringing something out."

Out from the Sphinx _walked_ the professor Mystique,, Storm and Magneto.

Gasps echoed through the room. "They're not dead," Vivian whispered as she stared specifically at Magneto. "But how is that possible?"

"What are those things they're wearing on their skin?" Shadowcat asked.

"Looks like some type of mind control devices," Beast guessed. " And the power source-"

"Apocalypse himself," Jean finished.

Nightcralwer let out a frustrated breath. "Vhat has he done to zhem?

"He's turned them into his horsemen," I answered. "Apocalypse takes four individuals and makes them into his warriors to keep people from trying to stop him. The only way to turn them back is to defeat Apocalypse. At least that's what was in Mesmero's head."

We watched as they mounted horses and went off to do Apocalypse's bidding. Mystique returned to the Sphinx, Professor X went to the pyramid in Egypt, Storm went to China and Magneto went to Mexico. Their goal: destroy the Sentinels and protect the domes. Fed up with watching from the sideline, Logan took charge and began giving orders. There was to be a team at each of the three pyramids and one at the Sphinx. But we were gonna need some help. He asked all of us to seek out some help from some other mutants do Kitty and I were asked to get the Brotherhood on board.

At the Brotherhood House

Kitty rapped on the door and we waited as the door flung open to reveal Lance.

"What do you two want?" he asked.

"I can't believe we're saying this," I sighed, a defeated look on my face. "But we need your help."

Lance who looked taken aback for a moment before sneering in disbelief and saying "Why do you need our help?"

"It's Apocalypse," Kitty spoke up. "We need to stop him before he can turn all of the humans into mutants. Not every will survive and he could kill millions of people."

"So?" Lance shrugged. "Let him. Maybe then we won't have to be treated as freaks."

"You can't really be serious?" Kitty scoffed in disbelief. "Apocalypse has to be stopped!"

"Think about this way Lance," I began. "If Apocalypse succeeds guess what happens to everyone? We get _enslaved_. For the rest of our lives, we'll be stuck under his rule with no freedom. That is if he doesn't decided to kill us first."

"Look what happened to Magneto, Storm and the professor," Kitty exclaimed. "He killed them then he brought them back and they're under his control!"

"Magneto...is alive?" Wanda and Pietro questioned. They had been standing by the staircase listening to the conversation.

"Yes and he's in Mexico guarding one of Apocalypse's pyramids," I replied. "We have to fight him to destroy the pyramid. But his powers have been greatly increased by Apocalypse. It'll be tough to beat him so we need your help."

"We're not going anywhere," Lance firmly stated.

"How can you just say that you wanna let Apocalypse take over?" Kitty shouted.

"I never said that," Lance retorted.

"Then come with us to Mexico and help us take Magneto down," I urged. "If we can destroy the domes, we can stop Apocalypse's plans. At least ask the others if they want to help."

"Fine, let me ask," Lance snapped. "Hey, does anyone want to go Mexico and help defeat Magneto and Apocalypse?"

Silence came from the house and Lance smirked. "Well there's your answer."

Lance tried to shut the door on us but I caught the door and walked up to Pietro and Wanda.

"Are you _really_ going to stay here and not help us?" I asked, disbelief in my voice and pleading in my eyes.

"You X-Geeks can take care of it," Pietro stubbornly replied.

"No we can't," I said shaking my head. "The X-Men can't take Apocalypse down by ourselves. We _need_ your help."

"What would I be gaining from fighting in an unwinnable fight?" Pietro questioned.

I scoffed in shock. "The world is in danger and you're worried about what you'll get out of this? Typical Pietro behavior. Never willing to do a random act of selflessness unless you get rewarded for it."

I turned to Wanda and asked "What about you, Wanda? Even though I hated him, Apocalypse killed Magneto. He killed himbut now he's using him like a puppet. Shouldn't you want to make Apocalypse pay for what he's done? If you're not going to fight to save the world, at least fight for your father."

Wanda thought over what I had just told her before taking hesitant but sure steps toward the door to stand next to Kitty.

"I'm still not going," Pietro said.

"So be it," I replied throwing my hands up in defeat. I brought my lips up to his and placed a soft and tender kiss on them. "If we lose this battle, this could be the last time you ever see me, Pietro. You know that I love you and probably will never stop. I wish you would, just for once, finally put me first in your heart and head like I do with you. But sadly you refusing to fight proves to me that you're just a coward."

I looked at the rest of the Brotherhood. "You're all cowards! And you always will be if you put yourselves before the safety of the world." I turned back to Pietro and whispered "Goodbye, Pietro," before walking out of the door with Wanda and Kitty.

"Are you okay?" Kitty asked, concerned.

"I don't have time to cry over this anymore," I replied, a neutral but determined look on my face. "There's something much more important that I need to be concerned with and _it_ deserves my full attention, not Pietro."

Back at the X-Mansion

The X-men and I returned with all the mutant assistance we could find including the Scarlet Witch, Havok, Spyke, Angel and Colossus. Logan split us into four groups to each take on one of Apocalypse's horsemen. Beast led the team in China with Berserker, Iceman, Spkye and Medulla to fight Storm. Jean led the team at the pyramid in Egypt with Siren, Magma, Boom Boom, Multiple and Colossus to fight the professor. I led the team in Mexico with Shadowcat, the Scarlet Witch, Havok, Sunspot and Angel to fight Magneto. Stone, Nightcrawler and Cyclops' team at the Sphinx led by Wolverine had the toughest people to face- Mystique _and_ Apocalypse. We got our coordinates for the domes and went outside to board the S.H.I.E.L.D helijets Nick Fury provided us with.

I tightly gripped my brother, sister and aunt a few moments before we had to leave. "Please be careful."

"Always," Siren replied, a tear sliding down her cheek. "I'm not going out like this."

"Neither am I," Stone piped up. "It'll take much more than something like this to do me in."

"Aunt Viv, you better not try to leave me again," I half joked and half sobbed.

"I promise you I won't," Vivian said kissing my forehead.

"Just come back to me _alive_ okay?" I pleaded to my family.

We hugged some more before it was time to get going. I boarded the helijet and got into the pilots seat. Flipping a few switches and pressing a few buttons, I lifted the jet off the ground and immediately flew us off to Mexico. It was only a matter of time before the battle that determined the fate of the entire world begun.

After what seemed like days of flying, I arrived at the sight of the Mexican dome. My feelings of anxiety melted into a leaders demeanor as the helijet touched down on the ground. "This is it. Magneto is outside of this jet and it's time to take him down to save the world from the possible reign of Apocalypse. There will be no holding back for Magneto and the same goes for us. Go at him with everything you have and hope for the best."

I opened the door of the jet and we all stood up and stepped out of it. We ran up to the pyramid and to Magneto who flew directly above it. He used his powers to reform the Sentinel he destroyed earlier and sent it to attack us.

"Spread out and watch each others backs!" I called out.

The Sentinel walked toward us and swung its hand to swat us. I jumped out of the way while draining some trees around me. I turned the water into icicles that pierced the chest of the Sentinel. However it did nothing to stop it and kept coming at us. Magneto began to throw pieces of discarded Sentinel pieces at us while we tried our best to evade them. Sunspot powered up and jumped through the Sentinels chest while I took that distraction to Magneto as a chance to attack him. Covering my body in a head to toe ice suit, I flew toward Magneto and landed a solid kick in his back sending him hurdling toward the dirt. Magneto shot up just as quickly as he got knocked down and sent a giant piece of metal at me. I tried my best to dodge it but it made rough contact with my shoulder. Falling to the ground, I wrapped a water whip around Magneto's ankle to slow the fall and force him down with me. Magneto commanded the Sentinel to attack me and it picked me up to toss me but Sunspot leapt from the ground and tore its hand off. After prying myself from its grasp I watched in awe as the point of the pyramid began to glow brightly. The tip then shot into the air leaving behind a tall streak of light energy.

"Talk to me, Beast," I said into my wrist communicator. "What's going on with the pyramids?"

"Apocalypse has sent the tips up into orbit in order to create a greater range ," Beast replied. "This way it can effect the entire world."

"We're running out of time then," I growled in frustration.

Jean joined the conversation and asked "Is there anyway to get it back toward the ground?"

"There's no need," Beast said. "Take out the base units and the orbitals would be deprived of a power source."

"Understood," Jean replied.

"We're on it," I said before addressing the team. (We have to destroy the base units. Sunspot, Angel, distract Magneto anyway you can. Shadowcat, Havok, do _whatever_ it takes to take out the rest of the pyramid. Scarlet Witch and I will provide protection to the both of you. Move!)

They nodded their heads in agreement before following my orders. Sunspot and Angel directed their attention to the Sentinel while Shadowcat and Havok phased up from behind the busied Magneto where Havok shot his beams at the pyramid. Sunspot and Angel soon were defeated and sent the Sentinel toward Shadowcat and Havok. The Scarlet Witch and I burst from our hiding spot among the trees and tried to keep the Sentinel and Magneto busy. The Scarlet Witch was still having a little bit of trouble attacking her own father so she focused on the Sentinel as I gunned for Magneto.

'Been waiting a long time to face Magneto one on one,' I thought. 'Just not like this.'

I gathered water from the air and trees and made a pair of ice fists that surrounded my hands. Charging toward Magneto, I held my hands out and launched the fists which made a direct hit to his chest forcing him back into a tree. Magneto stayed down for a couple of long seconds before getting up like nothing happened. He waved his hand and something big hit me from behind. I crashed to the ground hard and heard something snap. I held back painful tears as I realized that the snap came from one of my bones. Turns out that I fell on my left leg, rebreaking it.

I wobbled to my feet and balanced myself on my right leg. 'I can't fight with one leg,' I thought in a panic as I watched Magneto take out Havok and Shadowcat.

With my body being so wrapped up in the pain from my leg, the jetstream of water that I sent at Magneto was weak. He looked at me then picked up the clawed hand of the Sentinel which he sent toward me at an amazing speed. Unable to dodge, it grabbed me around the waist and pinned me to the tree behind me. I struggled as hard as I could to get loose but it was no use. Both of my hands were pinned to my sides so I couldn't cut my way out and the pain from my leg was making me lightheaded but I was giving my all not to succumb to passing out in the middle of a battle. The Scarlet Witch surrounded Magneto in a blue hex aura to cancel out his powers but with Apocalypse enhancing them it did little to stop him and he soon knocked her out before flying away to follow Apocalypse's orders. With Magneto gone for the moment I concentrated solely on freeing at least one hand.

"Come on," I muttered through grit teeth. "Almost there."

No matter how hard I tried my arm wouldn't move from its place. And this simple movement to move my arm sapped most of the strength I had left making my body go limp in exhaustion. As my eyes waveringly fluttered, my last thought before closing my eyes was 'It's all over.' Not even five minutes after my eyes closed shut, a mental tug slowly coerced me back into consciousness. I must be hallucinating from my leg pain because when I opened my eyes I could've sworn I felt and saw Pietro cradling me in his arms.

"Am I dreaming?" I woozily mumbled.

I felt Pietro kiss my forehead and whisper "Not exactly."

"You came after all," I quietly said.

"It was Lances idea," he shrugged before continuing. "And well, I knew you would go do something stupid to get yourself hurt. I mean look at you! Pinned to a tree with a broken leg. We had to get Blob to pull that claw off you."

I rolled my eyes and sighed "Have you guys taken care of Magneto yet?"

"Avalanche buried him a couple minutes ago," Pietro replied. "There's no way he's getting up."

The tail of the destroyed jet the Brotherhood arrived in began to groan and shake. "Maybe he doesn't need to."

The tail broke off and its rotors spun turning it onto a blade of destruction that freed Magneto from his tree burial. He held his hands out and all things metal spun around him haphazardly.

"Things aren't looking too good here, Wolverine," I slowly said into my wrist communicator. "_Please_ tell me Plan B is in effect."

"She just got here don't- agh!" Wolverine replied before I lost communication with him.

Anxiety and discouragement gripped me but soon enough however, before Magneto threw the objects in his magnetic grip, the glow in his eyes faded and he fell to the ground. The energy beam being emitted from the pyramid disappeared as well.

"Is it over?" Shadowcat asked as Avalanche helped her to her feet.

"I think so," I replied as I struggled to sit up. I used the tree behind me to bring me up. Why didn't Pietro help me you ask? Because he had rushed to his father's side as soon as Apocalypse's control over him was terminated. It's not like I didn't expect that but it still hurt me in ways too difficult to describe.

A new S.H.I.E.L.D helijet landed in front us seeing as how Magneto tore our other one to pieces. I began limping toward the helijet when a pair of strong arms carefully swooped me up.

"You shouldn't be trying to walk," Alex smiled at me. "Totally wrecks the healing process."

"I've had worse injuries," I smiled back. "Thanks for carrying me."

"No problem, dudette," Alex dismissed. "This is only, what, the second time I helped you out."

I blushed at what he was referring to. I never told anyone this but back on Asteroid M when the ceiling caved on us, Alex had thrown his body over mine to protect me. I don't know if it was unintentional or not but it was sweet. "So you remember that?"

Alex carried me on the helijet and carefully sat me in a seat before sitting next to me. "Of course."

"I suppose I owe you, don't I?" I questioned, flirtatiously smiling.

He smiled back and shrugged. "Maybe. If you're ever in Hawaii, look me out and we could hang. I could teach you how to surf."

"I'd like that," I grinned. "Well, you know where I live so if you're ever in Bayville we could get lunch or something. Deal?"

"Deal," Alex said shaking my hand.

Pietro walked over to where I was sitting and asked "Are you okay, Semina? Do you need anything?" Apparently, he felt threatened by Alex's presence near me.

"No, I'm fine," I coldly replied. "Go make sure your _father_ is okay."

Pietro raised an eyebrow at me then briskly walked away.

'He didn't even argue with me,' I thought, taken aback. 'Pietro always has a witty comeback or retort.'

I touched the locket around my neck and let a tear slide from my eye. Alex who looked concerned asked "You two have history don't you?"

I opened the locket and showed him the picture inside. His face twisted into a look that asked "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I assured him. "It's just...Magneto is more important to him than I am and..."

"Well if that's the truth maybe it's time to let him go," Alex said.

I gave no reply but simply cast Pietro a look before propping my elbows on my knees and putting my head in my hands.

At the mansion

"How many times have you been injured in the past year?" Beast teased as he finished wrapping my leg in a cast.

I chuckled and replied "Too many to count."

"Keep this up and you won't have any bones left to break," Vivian joked as she walked into the med bay with my brother and sister.

"Ha ha, very funny," I dryly replied as I hopped into a pair of crutches and sighed. "I hate crutches."

"Stop getting hurt so often and maybe you wouldn't have to have them," Anthony said as he ruffled my hair.

I swatted his hand away and smoothed out my hair before LaToya passed me my dog. Sasha licked my face in joy. It's been a while since I've seen her.

"Come on," LaToya urged as she gestured toward the door. "The professor wants to speak with everyone."

After proceeding outside the mansion and joining the rest of the mutants who were in the Apocalypse battle, the professor began his speech. He went on to say that when he confronted Apocalypse he was able to see into his mind. The future, as Professor X say, will be filled with much more obstacles. Whether its us losing old friends and gaining new allies he assures us that we can face it as a team.

"Now with that being said," Professor X began. "I believe that a little celebration is in order for the defeat of Apocalypse. Everyone is welcome to stay, including the Brotherhood."

"A party?" Jean asked.

"Are you kidding?" Kitty and Tabby exclaimed.

"What are we standing around here for?" LaToya asked as she grabbed Kurt's hand and they teleported inside.

Everyone else rushed inside buzzing with excitement, even Scott and Jean. I guess everyone wanted to let loose now that the world had been saved. As I guided myself inside on my crutches I noticed Nick Fury pull Pietro to the side and hand him a business card. One couldn't help but wonder what Fury wanted to talk to Pietro about.

Before I got inside I found Ororo and pulled her into a giant hug. She quickly understood what it was for and wrapped her arms around me.

"You came back," I smiled. "Just like you promised. I'm glad."

"As am I," Oror replied. "Now shall we go and join in the festivities?"

"I'm not in a party mood," I admitted. "But I guess it wouldn't hurt to stay for a little while."

I walked into the living room where I found everyone socializing, dancing and for once, getting along. Fred was glued to his place at the buffet table, Tabby and Kitty were dancing with the rest of the New Mutants like there was no tomorrow, Jean and Scott were sipping drinks on the sofa and laughing it up, Rogue and Wanda stood off to the side while LaToya and Kurt tried to convince them to have some fun, and everyone else was just floating around the room. Pietro spotted me and walked up to me with a drink as a peace offering.

"Thanks," I muttered as I avoided his gaze.

"What's going on with you, Mina?" Pietro asked. "Don't say nothing because I know that's not true. You've been giving me these looks I can't read and I want to know what's bothering you."

"It's nothing important," I lied. "I just wish that you would've gotten to Mexico sooner. That way I wouldn't have a broken leg."

"There's more to it than that," Pietro said. "Just tell me."

Rather than say anything I looked him with a neutral face before bringing my lips to his. I inwardly smiled as he gave into it and returned the gesture. I heard whispers, whistles and a low guttural growl all at once as people looked on at us.

'Maybe I was wrong after all,' I thought.

A knock at the door sent Ororo away from the party to open it. A few moments later a couple of unexpected guests strolled in. The room fell silent as everyone looked at who it was. Pietro shoved himself away from me and walked to the other side of the room all in one motion.

"Magneto, why have you brought your Acolytes here with you?" Professor X asked as he wheeled toward them.

"We're not here to cause harm," Magneto explained. "We are here to simply enjoy the celebration. But just for today. Then our truce is over."

"Very well," Professor X said as we said him restrain a smile. "Enjoy yourselves then."

Colossus went to take a seat on the couch looking uncomfortable with the entire party scene. As Gambit and Pyro went to harass Rogue and Wanda, Magneto who must've seen Pietro pull away from me gave me a look of triumph as he walked over to my aunt. My chest heaved in anger and hurt as I turned around and made my way out of the party.

"Where are you going?" LaToya asked.

"I need some time alone," I replied before glaring at Pietro and walking outside.

A/N: The world is saved and as 'Tsunami' finally comes to a close there is only one question left unanswered at the moment: Will Pietro and Semina get back together? Read the epilogue and you'll get your answer. I think I'll post it either by tonight or tomorrow.


	35. Epilogue

A/N: Helpful Cruelty, I didn't think your review was a flame. It was probably the most helpful advice I've gotten thus far. Your points made a lot of sense and I think I just jumped into this fic without doing any background research on how to actually write it the right way. I took the Mary Sue test and Semina wasn't ranked as a _total_ Mary Sue. She has the traits but somehow she is still salvageable. PM me sometime and maybe you could help me out with my writing. And I do plan to redo "Tsunami" hopefully the right way but that's after the two sequels.

Anyway, thanks for the reviews! Here it is, the epilogue that answers if they'll be getting back together or not. ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution or any song used in this story, so don't sue me!

() =Telepathic conversations

""=Speaking

''=Thoughts

Epilogue

I stood under the stone gazebo of the institute and looked out at the majestic sea. The waves, much like my feelings, were wild and uneasy. After Magneto's surprise appearance, I broke apart from our celebration to have some thinking time. A million things were running through my mind and I didn't know which ones to address for. Fortunately for me, someone came outside and helped me prioritize them.

"Why'd you run out of the party?" Pietro asked.

I glanced down at my cast wrapped leg and sighed. "I've been doing some thinking and there's something I want to ask you."

"What?" he questioned.

"Back in Mexico, why didn't you help me?" I asked.

His eyebrows furrowed and I restated the question. "When you saw that my leg was broken, why did you help Magneto to the jet instead of me?"

"Semina, we've been through this already," Pietro groaned. "He's my father."

"There it is again," I chuckled. "That infamous excuse: 'He's my father.' I know that but why is it every time it comes down to me being in some sort of trouble you automatically side with him?"

"What do you expect me to do?" He inquired, rhetoric thick in his voice.

"Just for once for you to put me first," I sighed. "Once Magneto found out about our relationship, you've tried your hardest to make sure you stay in daddy's good graces. And by doing that, you've slowly been pushing me out of your life."

"No I haven't!" Pietro said.

"Yes you have!" I countered. "You've used me to give him information on the mansion, you don't want to come near me when he's around and worst of all you betrayed me for him. And you still never gave me a reason why you did it."

"You wanna know why I did it?" Pietro asked, a crazed look in his eye. "I'll tell you why! He threatened to hand the Brotherhood over to Bolivar Trask and that he would personally find and kill you. But not only that, he said he would kill you and force me to watch. Now you can see that I had no other choice to betray you. I was protecting you."

"I can protect myself," I stubbornly said. "And there were other things you could've done instead of betraying me and your team. If you would've just come to the professor for help-"

"You know I would never ask him for help," Pietro hissed.

I raised an eyebrow and asked "Not even if it meant you would be keeping me safe? Wow, Pietro. I knew your pride was big but I never thought it would be big enough to cloud your common sense."

"Put yourself in my shoes," Pietro said. "You know damn well you would do the same for your aunt if the situation came down to it."

I thought this over for a moment before admitting "I would have."

"See!" Pietro exclaimed.

"But if I knew it would hurt someone I love, I would have found another way," I continued. "And you hurt me, really really badly."

"I know, Mina," Pietro said, his hard look unwavering. "But-"

"Hold that thought," I interrupted. "Come with me, I want to show you something."

We made our way to a large tree that overlooked the ocean. At the foot of the trunk was a headstone with an etched rose at the top of it.

"This is where the baby was buried," I explained.

"It's blank," Pietro noticed as he knelt down to get a better look at it.

"It was too early to tell if it was a boy or girl," I explained. "So I didn't bother to name it."

"Why did you want to show me this?" Pietro asked as he stared at the headstone.

"To prove a point," I began. "This is what happened as a result of your actions. Because of Magneto's influence over you, you chose to not tell anyone that the Sentinel battle was a trap. I'm not blaming you that I lost the baby. I'm blaming you because this could have been prevented."

"Even if I told Magneto no, he would have found another way to get me do this," Pietro fumed as he shot up to look me in the face. "I never wanted to do it but I couldn't say no to the man!"

"Why not?" I snapped. "Give me one good reason why you couldn't. Wait, you don't have to. It's because he's your father. So I guess this is how it is and always will be then. Father comes first, everyone else comes second. Even me, the girl who took risk after risk just to be with you. The girl who would put herself in harms way to protect you. The girl who loves you more than your father does and ever will."

Pietro hesitantly said "My father does-"

I let out a mocking laugh. "You really think he loves you? He _uses_ you. You're the pawn he goes to when it's convenient. And once you serve your purpose he just tosses you off to the side. But despite all of this, you still put him before me. If we got back together right now, would you be able to march in there, look Magneto in the eye and tell him that no matter what he says or does that you wouldn't want to end things with me?"

Pietro looked like he was trying his best to say something but he then looked behind me and remained quiet. I followed his gaze and saw Magneto glaring at him through the window.

"And there's my answer," I sadly chuckled. "Of course you wouldn't. If it ever came down to me or Magneto I know how it would end."

"Are you asking me to choose between you and him?" Pietro incredulously asked.

"You don't need to," I said. "I already have. It's obvious that the person you will always choose is Magneto. There's no room for me and there never will be if you continue to put him ahead of those who love you. I just can't take being second fiddle to him."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Pietro asked, already knowing the answer.

I nodded my head before taking off my locket and giving it to him. "I can't be with you if you can't see who will always be here to protect you. I already said I wasn't going to take you back after what you did and I'm a girl of my word. If you can _ever_ see that he isn't worth losing the people you love, come find me and I guarantee that I would take you back in a heartbeat. But right now you can't do that. So it's over, I'm done. I can't waste anymore tears and energy into a relationship that's doomed to fail because of your father. Goodbye, Pietro."

I kissed him on the cheek and tired to walk away before he sped in front of me. "You can't be serious about this."

"I'm very serious," I firmly replied. "Now, I'm gonna ask nicely for you to get the Brotherhood and leave."

"First you tell me we can't be together anymore and now you're throwing me out?" Pietro angrily yelled. "Damn it, I not going anywhere until-"

"Until what, Pietro?" I shouted before I whispered. "Until what?"

He gave no answer but stood his ground.

"I wish you didn't make me have to do this but I really can't stand the sight of your face right now," I said. "DAD!"

Pietro looked confused and asked "Your dad is here? What the hell is he gonna do?"

"I'm gonna make sure you stay away from her," came the gruff reply that made Pietro pale even further than he already was and turn around.

"Dad, do you mind escorting Pietro off the property?" I asked as I proceeded toward the mansion without even turning around. I heard a 'snikt' and then I felt Pietro's mind leave the premises.

"You okay, kid?" Logan asked.

"Honestly?" I asked. "No. But it was time I ended things with him...for good."

"Do you think you did the right thing?" he questioned as he held the door open for me.

"Yes, it's not fair for me to be with someone who can't even stand up for me," I answered. "And it's not fair to him to be with someone who will always resent him for that. He looked like I ripped his heart out but his stupid pride wouldn't let him admit it. We-we just...can't be together. Not like this, not right now."

Logan grunted and said "I hear ya. And if you ever do decide to take him back, let me have a little chat with him first." Given the recent events, I chuckled as we entered the living room where we were met with stony silence.

"What happened to the party?" I asked to everyone.

"There was a breaking news report," Vivian explained.

"What's going on?" Logan questioned.

The professor wheeled up to us and sighed deeply. "The mayoral election results are in. Edward Kelly is the new mayor of Bayville."

To Be Continued

A/N: And so ends my first fic "Tsunami". So yeah, there's no happy ending for Semina. Feel free to review your little hearts out now! And look out for the sequel coming whenever I feel like posting it. Nah but it should be started soon. I'm deciding to scrap the entire InuYasha crossover and keep the story in the Evolution world. It'll focus on Edward Kelly's plans for as mayor, how the X-Men and Brotherhood deal with it and I plan to bring in some familiar Marvel faces. It'll be more heavy action with hopefully a deeper plot and a lot of Pieto/Semina romance and angst sprinkled in. So look out for the beginning soon. Goodbye for now!


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